Trump links wind farms with Megrahi

Dec 14 2012

US tycoon Donald Trump has attempted to link the wisdom of building wind farms with the release of the Lockerbie bomber in a fresh attack on SNP renewable energy policy.

Full-page advertisements in two Scottish newspapers invited members of the public to protest against Alex Salmond for his support for harnessing onshore wind.

Between an image of a scarred-looking Californian landscape and a close-up of Mr Salmond, the advertisement states: "Tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy! This is the same mind that backed the release of the terrorist al-Megrahi, 'for human reasons' - after he ruthlessly killed 270 people on Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie."

The link to the Lockerbie bombing was dismissed by the Scottish Green party as a "new low".

Mr Trump is locked in a planning row over an application to build a wind turbine test centre in the North Sea, within view of his luxury golf course on the Aberdeenshire coast.

He strongly criticised the use of wind turbines in an appearance before MSPs on Holyrood's Energy Committee earlier this year. He has also written letters to the First Minister, urging him to abandon wind power or risk "destroying" the country.

A report by the cross-party Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee rejected Mr Trump's warnings that turbines will hurt tourism.

An earlier anti-wind turbine newspaper advertisement by the Trump Organisation was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The photograph used to illustrate the point gave a "misleading impression" because if depicted a decommissioned wind farm in Hawaii.

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie reported the latest advertisement to the ASA. "Trump has sunk to a new low. Linking renewables policy to Lockerbie victims is sick. Not only did he have no shred of evidence that tourism would suffer when we quizzed him during the parliament's inquiry into renewables, he has already been censured by the authorities for placing similar anti-renewables adverts."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Scotland has massive green energy potential, including around a quarter of Europe's offshore wind and tidal power potential, that is already bringing in significant jobs, industry and investment and we have a responsibility to ensure Scotland benefits further."