Scottish government downed 15.7 million trees since 2000 to develop 'net-zero' wind farms

Amid the mad rush to embrace 'green' energy, the dark undertones of one country's transition have become public, earning considerable opposition.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon admitted the Scottish National Party (SNP) downed 15.7 million trees to make way for wind turbines to be constructed over the next decade. 

The party's ambitious 'green energy' goal sets a target date for 'net-zero' emissions of all greenhouse gasses by 2045.

Estimates suggest the government has cut down approximately 15.7 million trees since 2000, the equivalent of 1,700 per day. 

In a letter penned by Gougeon to Scottish Tory MSP Liam Kerr on July 13, Gougeon said approximately "7,858 hectares of trees had been chopped down."

She confirmed this development happened "to facilitate wind farm development."

"Where woodland is removed in association with development, developers will generally be expected to provide compensatory planting to avoid a net loss of woodland," said Gougeon.

The Telegraph reported Kerr calling the move "astonishing," adding: "Not just astonishment at the numbers that we are talking about but the fact of it."

"Now we learn there's significant damage to trees," he said.

According to the Forestry and Land Scotland agency, the SNP insisted that planning for wind farms protected woodland and there is "compensatory planting elsewhere."

"Removal should only be permitted where it would achieve significant and clearly defined additional public benefits," added Gougeon.

The Whitelee Windfarm in Glasgow is Europe's biggest onshore wind farm, with 215 turbines generating up to 539 megawatts of electricity to power over 350,000 households.

Though Gougeon said the SNP replanted the felled trees "on-site" or somewhere new, her attempt to reassure the public had no such effect on Kerr, who received "legitimate concerns" from residents over their "visual impact" and the "damage to wildlife and business."

According to The Daily Mail, residents in villages across the country have voiced identical concerns about the Scottish wilderness outside of national parks.

Residents speak of 'helplessness' and 'not being listened to' by a 'heavily biased' planning process centred in 'ivory towers' in cities such as Edinburgh, where politicians determine the fates of rural areas.

They said the cost of 'green' infrastructure to these communities has proved ruinous, claiming the SNP merely hangs out a welcome sign for wind farms to meet renewables commitments.

Brexiteer Nigel Farage also accused the SNP of "hypocrisy" on X, formerly Twitter, for chopping down trees to develop 'green' wind farms.

"The hypocrisy and damage done by the green agenda is plain to see," he said.