Tomorrow night is Full Council and I will be proposing a Motion on the biggest national media story we have had on the Island since the Parkhurst prison break-out:
"In the light of the devastating loss of 600+ jobs at the local Vestas plant, the IW Council supports the view of the Island's MP that "it is important that public money is invested in businesses that are firmly rooted in local economies" and will work proactively to make that aspiration a reality in the future.
In the meantime and in the face of the current Vestas situation, the IW Council will exert whatever pressure it can to get the Government to facilitate moving the Vestas plant into alternative ownership as a way of not only saving the 600+ local jobs, but also of promoting its own policies to expand renewable energy sources, including wind power."
I hope that I get a reasonable level of support for what is surely uncontentious to anyone with the interests of the Island at heart..............
2 comments:
Geoff,
I applaud your action to try and protect these jobs and we must all do what we can. But to be realistic:
1. Are Vestas really likely to sell their working factory to a government-subsidised competitor?
2. Where will be the market for these blades which are only part of a complete turbine?
And to answer your response before you make it: no, sadly I don't have a better idea. I don't think this is one.
It may not be contentious, but only because it won't commit anyone to anything. The council could claim -- well, will claim -- that it already commits to local industry. And what does "alternative ownership" really mean? In the sense that it helps to keep the door open, then the motion has merit - but perhaps only in that sense.
Frankly, I believe that reiterating a commitment to "renewables" that the government has already made isn't going to help Vestas workers. This leaves aside the question of whether onshore wind turbines are in any sense an answer, in whole or in part, to the energy and climate crisis. The evidence that they could make a real contribution, unless constructed in enormous numbers, is extremely thin. Vestas' empty order-book is perhaps a sign that this energy of the future is already proving itself to be a fantasy of the past, a green totem pole and symbol rather than a realistic and sustainable solution to present and future needs.
The impression I am left with, having heard their proponents and opponents speak at length, is that some people will go to any lengths to oppose nuclear power (for understandable reasons) and will adduce any evidence, however feeble, to back up their case.
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