Different leftist organizations in Norway seem to have different stances.

Tjen Folket referred to opposition to wind turbines as a “just campaign”, but it’s not clear to me in context whether this is referring to opposition to wind turbines in general or just opposition to specific wind farms. The Communist Party of Norway seems to support floating wind turbines but does not mention wind turbines on land. The Young Communists, its youth wing, does not appear to have anything about wind power on its website. The Red Party is opposed to wind turbines in general, on land and on sea; however the Red Youth, the Red Party’s youth wing, supports the construction of wind turbines provided that this is done in a “responsible” way. Revolusjon.no and marxisme.no seem to oppose the construction of wind farms in general, focusing on Norway’s relationship to the EU in general and Germany in particular, saying that these wind turbines are essentially being built to generate profits for capitalists to the detriment of locals in these areas. They have a number of articles that I would like to eventually read in full.

So there seems to be a range of opinions within the Norwegian left, but the general trend seems to be against the construction of wind turbines.

Wind turbines are a topic of growing prominence in Norway as plans for more and more wind farms are unveiled across the country. I was recently introduced to this blog post that presents a number of arguments against the construction of wind power in general, providing sources for everything and even some responses to common counterarguments. However I am of course skeptical to this blog post, because sourced or not, it is a lot of claims to reflect on and research, and the single brief remark about “population growth” (apparently quoting the UN) seems a bit sussy. I would also like to look more into the organization Motvind and criticism against it, and get through everything on the Wikipedia article “Environmental impact of wind power”.

Still, interim, I figured I should hold a “fact-finding meeting” to see if anyone here has any thoughts on when the construction of wind turbines should be supported or opposed, especially if you have experiences with wind turbines being built or opposed in your local area. When is opposition to wind turbines “NIMBYism in environmentalist clothing”, and when is there more to it? What do you all think?

  • Cigarette_comedian [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    15 days ago

    Currently, wind turbines are being used as a justification by the government to invalidate the native land rights of the Sami peoples.

    In Fosen, the construction of wind turbines ruined the winter pastures for the local reindeer herders, and while they are being permitted new areas to send their flocks to, it still stands that government backed organizations built on Sami land without proper consultation. This entire ordeal is eerily similar to Alta-saken from the 60’s and 80’s, where the government built a hydro dam on the Alta river, ruining its ecosystem. Even after extensive protests and disruptive action, the dam itself was built (Although scaled down from the original plans.) The only benefit the Sami people extracted out of it was recognition as a minority with a reexamination of the governments policies towards national minority groups.

    All this to say, while I personally believe wind turbines are cool and good to meet Norway and Europe’s energy demands, they have now been used to push the Sami off their own land, which leaves a very, very sour taste in my mouth, and I dearly hope future governments do not use green energy as an excuse to strip our national minorities of the few rights they clawed themselves to the past 100 years.

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      2·
      15 days ago

      It took me a long time to ask about wind turbines more generally, because up until recently the only wind turbines I’d really hear about in my circles or in the news was precisely that Fosen case, where the obvious side to be on is the side of the Indigenous group. So it didn’t seem like a topic with much to discuss about it, Fosen is cut-and-dry — but what about the non-Sámi areas, right?

      • Cigarette_comedian [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        2·
        15 days ago

        The non-Sámi areas should be fine, imo. Wind turbines fit Norway fairly well, and the electricity can be used to electrify the transportation network (Read: cars and bus, cause our railways suck) and cut our reliance on oil. We don’t even need oil to stay prosperous, first off because we are shamefully massive beneficiaries of imperialism and neo-colonialism, but also because Norway has plenty of resources outside of oil. See this cool Fredda video, if you haven’t already. I get the idea that wind turbines are “Ugly”, so maybe keep them off of areas like national parks and cabin destinations, but ultimately extracting emission “free” (manufacturing and construction creates emissions ofc) energy from the land should take priority.