Anti-Wind Farm Campaign Ad Banned for Misleading Public

wind turbine debate

The anti-wind turbine campaigning body, ‘Communities Against Windfarms in Scotland’, has come in for criticism from the advertising watchdog for running an ad which depicts what the Scottish landscape might look like if it were strewn with rusting, inoperative wind turbines.

The ad, which was placed in various regional press outlets, features images of broken turbines set against an abysmal looking grey sky, above which the legend ‘Welcome to Scotland’ is emblazoned. The controversy arises from the fact the picture is not actually of Scotland, but Hawaii.

The campaigning body was forced to admit that the photo was not taken in Scotland following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority by Scottish Renewables. The group argued that their chosen image was intended to be ‘illustrative’ rather than misleading.

The turbines pictured were actually built 25 years ago and have been decommissioned for more than half a decade. The particular model of wind turbine featured in the ads is not going to be used in Scotland at all.

The ad was consequently banned by the ASA, who also pointed to the fact that the campaign made claims that Scottish government is planning to build 8,750 turbines, when in fact their policy document states that their might be 5,645 onshore and offshore turbines by 2020.

This is not the first time that the ASA has been moved to ban inaccurate ads placed by anti wind farm campaigners. Just last month the Anglesey Anti Wind Turbine (AAWT) group had an ad banned for depicting wind turbines significantly different to those being proposed whilst protesting against plans for a site in Wales.

Green Steve’s Reaction

I’ve said previously that I am in favour of wind farms and actually find them quite pleasing to look at so I am, unsurprisingly, pleased that the ASA has banned the use of these inflammatory and inaccurate images.

I have read some fairly well written arguments against wind energy such as this one recently in the Daily Mail which focuses on the health issues associated with turbines and I do think this needs to be investigated further. I guess offshore wind is one way around such health ramifications.

Regardless, misleading the public like the two campaigns above have is not a conducive way to get your point across.

Steve (156 Posts)

I am chief writer and editor on Green Steve. Blogging since 2011, I like to delve into a wide number of topics to help people reduce their carbon footprint. You should follow me on Twitter here. And add me to your Google+ circles here.

Hire Me - did you enjoy this post? Let me write thought provoking environmental and green living articles for your website or blog

Comments are closed.

Recycling Nappies & Power Generating “Kites”

Now and again I like to look out into the world of green technology and find instances of innovation that could one day become the norm. A couple of stories recently caught my eye and each solves a problem ...
New Power Station to Run On Landfill-Bound Waste

A disused coal-fired power station in Cheshire has received government approval to reopen as an energy-from-waste plant. The Department of Energy and Climate Change released the news that a year long inquir...
More CCS Projects Needed to Check Global Warming

The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute issued a report on Wednesday urging governments to pass policies reflecting a much stronger commitment to the future of CCS. The group believes that unless a ...
Africa’s Biggest Power Plant to Built in Ghana

Ghana is to see a significant rise in energy capacity, as well as the creation of hundreds of jobs, thanks to the building of the continent's largest solar power plant. A British company, Blue Energy, is l...
Think Tank Finds Turning Away From Gas Will Boost Economy

According to the Cambridge Econometrics think tank, the UK would be £20bn better off in 2030 by focusing on offshore wind farms as a means of replacing aging power plants, as opposed to increasing gas fired e...
Sun = Good & Other Solar Power Ramblings

Well now, what have we here then – the UK experiencing it's sunniest and hottest spell of weather in many a year? That's got to be worth celebrating hasn't it? Pimms o'clock anyone? It's got me thinking ...