The rise of the WIMBY – campaign calls for wind in my back yard

Trade association Renewable UK has teamed up with campaigners from Embrace My Planet to highlight the fact that politicians positions do not reflect the public stance on turbines.

The “I am a WIMBY” campaign pokes fun at the Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) often criticism leveled against those who oppose the development of onshore wind.

A survey carried out for Renewable UK suggests that while over three quarters of the British public appear to support expansion of onshore wind, just over half of the candidates standing for election next month agree that such a policy is necessary for the UK to deliver on its renewable energy targets.

“Year after year, independent polls suggest that over 80% of the people in this country support further deployment of wind energy, yet the research shows candidates are not listening to this public enthusiasm for wind energy and are not placing enough emphasis on using onshore wind as a source of energy,” a spokesperson for the group told edie.

The campaign encourages voters to lobby their Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to ask them to commit to supporting wind power.

Adam Bell at RenewableUK said: “Politicians need to be told that NIMBYs don’t represent how British people actually think.”

Bell announced the launch of the ‘I am a WIMBY’ campaign:

“Hundreds of supporters of the renewable energy campaign Embrace will be writing to parliamentary candidates in their constituencies, asking them to sign the WIMBY (Wind In My Back Yard) pledge and state that they’d be happy to have a wind farm built near where they live.

“Efforts of Embrace’s supporters today are crucial to our future energy supply – many of the candidates we’re asking to become WIMBYs will form our next parliament.”

Full details can be found on the website here.

Sam Bond