In February 2012, 101 Conservative MPs and a handful from other parties signed a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron objecting to the roll-out of onshore wind farms. The letter asked Cameron to “dramatically cut” government subsidies for onshore wind and argued local communities needed more say in whether windfarms were developed in their area.

At the time, the government was committed to the rapid expansion of renewable energy. The European Union Renewables Directive, signed in 2007, required the UK to source 15 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020 - up from just two per cent when the legislation came in.

Onshore wind was the cheapest and most developed form of renewable power, so it was inevitable that it would take a large part of the strain. The amount of power the country generated from land-based wind turbines nearly doubled between 2009 and 2011. Government figures suggested the country’s onshore wind capacity needed to roughly triple again by the end of the decade to meet the EU target. The government advisory body the Committee on Climate Change said even more wind power was needed by 2030 to hit the country’s long-term emission reductions targets under the Climate Change Act.

Opponents of wind power argued windfarms spoiled landscapes and harmed bird populations, and that wind was an unreliable source of power. Media coverage blamed rising consumer energy bills on subsidies for the new energy source, although rising gas prices were largely responsible for an increase in bills at the time.

But wind power had become a political issue. Right-leaning politicians, who had previously supported action to tackle climate change, were becoming increasingly skeptical. The argument reflected the ‘culture wars’ between right and left in the USA and Australia over action to tackle climate change.

In his reply to the letter, David Cameron defended the benefits of wind power. But a few months later the government slightly cut subsidies for windpower. In 2015 the Conservative manifesto promised to “halt the spread of onshore wind turbines”, despite still supporting action to tackle climate change as a whole.

[EXTRACT]

The Prime Minister 10 Downing Street LONDON, SW1A 2AA

30th January 2012

As Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum, we have grown more and more concerned about the Government’s policy of support for on-shore wind energy production.

In these financially straightened times, we think it is unwise to make consumers pay, through taxpayer subsidy, for inefficient and intermittent energy production that typifies on-shore wind turbines.

In the on-going review of subsidy for renewable energy subsidies, we ask the Government to dramatically cut the subsidy for on-shore wind and spread the savings made between other types of reliable renewable energy production and energy efficiency measures.

We also are worried that the new National Planning Policy Framework, in its current form, diminishes the chances of local people defeating unwanted on-shore wind farm proposals through the planning system. Thus we attach some subtle amendments to the existing wording that we believe will help rebalance the system.

Finally, recent planning appeals have approved wind farm developments with the inspectors citing renewable energy targets as being more important than planning considerations. Taken to its logical conclusion, this means that it is impossible to defeat applications through the planning system. We would urge you to ensure that planning inspectors know that the views of local people and long established planning requirements should always be taken into account.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Heaton-Harris (CON), Daventry

Christopher Pincher (CON), Tamworth

Nadine Dorries (CON), Mid Bedfordshire

Karen Bradley (CON), Staffordshire Moorlands

Steve Baker (CON), Wycombe

David Davis (CON), Haltemprice and Howden

Matthew Hancock (CON), West Suffolk

Richard Bacon (CON), South Norfolk

David Nuttall (CON), Bury North

Bernard Jenkin (CON), Harwich and North Essex

Dr. Daniel Poulter (CON), Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Anne Main (CON), St Albans

David Mowat (CON), Warrington South

Karen Lumley (CON), Redditch

Nadhim Zahawi (CON), Stratford-on-Avon

Natascha Engel (LAB), North East Derbyshire

Pauline Latham (CON), Mid Derbyshire

Sarah Newton (CON), Truro and Falmouth

Geoffrey Cox (CON), Torridge and West Devon

Brandon Lewis (CON), Great Yarmouth

Adam Holloway (CON), Gravesham

Damian Collins (CON), Folkestone and Hythe

David Morris (CON), Morecambe and Lunesdale

Graham Brady (CON), Altrincham and Sale West

Louise Mensch (CON), Corby

Robert Walter (CON), North Dorset

Aidan Burley (CON), Cannock Chase

Bob Blackman (CON), Harrow East

Nick De Bois (CON), Enfield North

Steve Brine (CON), Winchester

Robert Syms (CON), Poole

Caroline Nokes (CON), Romsey and Southampton North

Brian Binley (CON), Northampton South

Steven Barclay (CON), North East Cambridgeshire

Julian Lewis (CON), New Forest East

Lorraine Fullbrook (CON), South Ribble

Tony Cunningham (LAB), Workington

Christopher Chope (CON), Christchurch

Dan Byles (CON), North Warwickshire

Edward Leigh (CON), Gainsborough

Richard Harrington (CON), Watford

Jacob Rees-Mogg (CON), North East Somerset

Guto Bebb (CON), Aberconwy

Kris Hopkins (CON), Keighley

Iain Stewart (CON), Milton Keynes South

Mark Spencer (CON), Sherwood

John Stevenson (CON), Carlisle

Bill Cash (CON), Stone

Andrew Griffiths (CON), Burton

Simon Hart (CON), Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire

Peter Bone (CON), Wellingborough

Charlie Elphicke (CON), Dover

Justin Tomlinson (CON), North Swindon

Mark Pawsey (CON), Rugby

Stuart Andrew (CON), Pudsey

Marcus Jones (CON), Nuneaton

Alun Cairns (CON), Vale of Glamorgan

Richard Drax (CON), South Dorset

Martin Vickers (CON), Cleethorpes

Craig Whittaker (CON), Calder Valley

Bob Stewart (CON), Beckenham

Adam Afriyie (CON), Windsor

Jack Lopresti (CON), Filton & Bradley Stoke

James Wharton (CON), Stockton South

Julian Sturdy (CON), York Outer

Heather Wheeler (CON), South Derbyshire.

Nigel Mills (CON), Amber Valley

Simon Reevell (CON), Dewsbury

Paul Maynard (CON), Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Mark Reckless (CON), Rochester and Strood

Paul Maynard (CON), Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Jeremy Lefroy (CON), Stafford

Jackie Doyle-Price (CON), Thurrock

Philip Hollobone (CON), Kettering

James Clappison (CON), Hertsmere

Sammy Wilson (DUP), East Antrim

David Tredinnick (CON), Bosworth

Roger Williams (LIB DEM), Brecon and Radnorshire

Nicholas Soames (CON), Mid Sussex

Graham Evans (CON), Weaver Vale

Douglas Carswell (CON), Clacton

Patrick Mercer (CON), Newark

Rory Stewart (CON), Penrith and The Border

John Glen (CON), Salisbury

Mark Pritchard (CON), The Wrekin

Caroline Dinenage (CON), Gosport

Neil Parish (CON), Tiverton and Honiton

Stephen McPartland (CON), Stevenage

Greg Knight (CON), East Yorkshire

David Ruffley (CON), Bury St Edmunds

Tracey Crouch (CON), Chatham and Aylesford

Priti Patel (CON), Witham

Karl McCartney (CON), Lincoln

James Gray (CON), North Wiltshire

Mark Williams (LIB DEM), Ceredigion

Andrew Rosindell (CON), Romford

Oliver Heald (CON), North East Hertfordshire

Andrea Leadsom (CON), South Northamptonshire

Ian Liddell-Grainger (CON), Bridgwater and West Somerset

Charles Walker (CON), Broxbourne

Andrew Percy (CON), Brigg and Goole

Andrew Bridgen (CON), North West Leicestershire

Andrew Turner (CON), Isle of Wight

Mark Garnier (CON), Wyre Forest

Andrew Bingham (CON), High Peak

Stewart Jackson (CON), Peterborough

Philip Davies (CON), Shipley