After publishing a report on the Coalition candidate for Corangamite Sarah Henderson’s support for the state government’s anti wind farm laws, Yes 2 Renewables received the following letter from Corangamite residents Mik Aidt and Anthony Gleeson.

Mik is a Geelong-based sustainability journalist and founder of Parents for Climate Action. Hailing from Denmark, which is a world leader in wind energy, Aidt tells me Danes support clean renewable energy from the wind and find the opposition here in Australia bizarre. Mik is spearheading a petition to encourage local political leaders to make Geelong fossil fuel free. You can sign it here.

Anthony is a Corangamite resident and member of the Surf Coast Energy Group and Surf Coast Air Action. As a new grandfather, Gleeson is passionate about addressing climate change. Here’s the joint letter they sent to local publications:

Victoria is the most polluting state in Australia. Our state could clean up its act with wind farms, yet the Napthine government’s wind farm ban is holding Victoria back from benefitting from this sensible and clean way of producing electricity.

We were shocked to find out that the Coalition candidate Sarah Henderson endorsed Victoria’s anti-wind farm laws at a recent public meeting in Torquay.

The current government in Victoria seems to think it’s okay to locate a polluting coal seam gas well just 100 metres from a home, whereas they currently mandate that clean and safe wind turbines have a two kilometre setback from homes. This double standard is unacceptable. We urge Sarah Henderson to join her constituency and adopt a much more constructive position on wind farms.

This is about plain common sense and simple maths. Wind turbines are helping farms, rural properties, businesses, and community projects reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint. Renewable energy makes sense economically, and it makes even more sense environmentally. On top of all this, there are the moral aspects. If we care about our children, we must get off our fossil fuel addiction immediately.

Mik Aidt and Anthony Gleeson.

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