Leaders | Hug pylons, not trees

The case for an environmentalism that builds

Economic growth should help, not hinder, the fight against climate change

Apr 5th 2023

The sheer majesty of a five-megawatt wind turbine, its central support the height of a skyscraper, its airliner-wingspan rotors tilling the sky, is hard to deny. The solid-state remorselessness with which a field of solar panels sucks up sunshine offers less obvious inspiration, but can still stir awe in the aficionado. With the addition of some sheep safely grazing such a sight might even pass for pastoral. The sagging wires held aloft by charmless, skeletal pylons along which the electricity from such installations gets to the people who use it, by contrast, are for the most part truly unlovely. But loved they must be.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Hug pylons, not trees ”