Comedian and television presenter Griff Rhys Jones was in Castlemorris last week to lend his support to the STOP campaign set up to oppose applications for large wind turbines in north Pembrokeshire.

Although he says he is not against small-scale wind turbines, Mr Rhys Jones is against large industrial turbines in the rural environment.

“I’ve looked at this quite carefully and I’m very conscious that this is a complicated debate and a very important one,” Mr Rhys Jones told the Western Telegraph.

“There are two elements to this; one is about longterm energy policy and one is long-term policy for the countryside of Great Britain and Wales.”

Mr Rhys Jones compared using wind turbines to combat the energy crisis to ‘using a pea shooter to fight the Nazis’.

“I recognise the need for energy saving and reduced carbon dioxide emissions,”

he said.

“But I don’t understand the logic that says you will have an intermittent source of power for under 15% of our needs which will have to be backed up by 100% of non-renewable capacity.

“That’s like having a belt, some braces and another belt made of string.”

Mr Rhys-Jones and STOP members congratulated the county council for turning down a second wind turbine near Panteg.

Ray Simpson, from STOP, said: “Griff is with us on everything we’ve said. We are trying to protect the special north Pembrokeshire landscape and invited him in order to get support for this campaign.”

GARETH CLUBB, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, which encourages wind farms that are ‘appropriately sited, well designed and locally supported’, said:

“It seems Mr Rhys Jones is repeating the same tired old arguments used by anti-wind campaigners all over the UK.
 

“Wind is an economic and effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating energy. That energy then has no fuel costs. Wind is already contributing a significant and growing proportion of the UK’s energy. People opposed to wind turbines are by and large a small but vocal minority who are able to recruit people such as Griff Rhys Jones, who as far as I’m aware has no qualifications in climate or energy, to their cause.”