Cutting down forest for windmills?

It will. That was my first reaction to the protest placards on a country road somewhere in Groesbeek. Protest against windmills. Of course. Not in my backyard.

Personally, windmills make me happy. I like them. I greet every windmill I see on the horizon as progress, a milestone on the way to a future without fossil fuels.

I saw the placards more often and each time I walked right past them, on my way to the forest behind the country road: a large, mystical forest where you can really get lost. Until I stopped to study the placards. I was shocked: a drawing of the forest with large machines in the middle of it on an empty field, cut away from the forest.

Mind-boggling: was it really, was anyone planning to cut down forest for windmills? That seemed absurd to me: clean energy sources instead of … Yes, clean energy sources. Trees purify the air and provide space for nature and space for people in search of peace. In the woods, we can recharge our batteries after a long day’s work or a bombardment of media impressions.

So now there will be windmills there. Not on the edge of the forest, in an industrial area, on a canal or road, no in the middle of the forest itself. It concerns the Reichswald in Germany that is connected to the hills, fields and forests of Gelderland and Limburg (Groesbeek, Sint-Jansberg). You can walk here for days knowing that you are part of something much bigger than human society alone: nature that existed for millions of years before us and from which we all originated.

I myself am developing the Walk of Wisdom in this region and my first reaction was: resistance! On the other hand, I am pilgrim enough to want to investigate from the realization that all our certainties in life are constantly being turned upside down. Change is the only constant in history, so my second reaction was: let me try to understand what is going on here.

For that reason, I have invited both an opponent and a proponent to enter into a debate with each other. Their debate will be preceded by a mini-lecture on the state of play in the clean energy transition. In the debate, we use the rules of the Disputatio, Thomas Aquinas’ favorite method of debate, aimed at wisdom rather than right.

The transition to clean energy seems to me to be necessary. I understand that the Netherlands is doing poorly here. The Germans are more energetic, even willing to sacrifice forests to meet their clean energy targets. Can we learn something from our eastern neighbours? Or are they making a mistake?

Damien Brass
pioneer pilgrimage route Walk of Wisdom

Trees or windmills: debate on renewable energy in response to the Reichswald case. Tuesday 20 October Droomvilla Lux Nijmegen 19.30h (doors open at 19.00h). Address: Oranjesingel 42, near Nijmegen Central Station. Admission free, valuation afterwards. Reservations required! In the debate, the rules of the Disputatio, Thomas Aquinas’ favorite method of debate, focused on wisdom rather than right, apply.

You can register via this link

Photo: Felicitas Schlette.