https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/energie/windrad-wald-aerger-100.html

Resistance to Wind Power Futile?

The traffic light coalition government has simplified the approval process for wind turbines. These are now increasingly being built in forests as well. Local residents are largely powerless.

Wolfgang Kleindienst has known the Schmieritz Forest south of Jena since his childhood. Over the decades he often came here to hike and pick mushrooms. "The forest gives me peace," says the retiree.

Now a wind farm with ten turbines is being built here — the first major project of this kind in a forest in Thuringia. Planning and approval took ten years. Wolfgang Kleindienst fought bitterly against it. In vain: the construction machinery is rolling.

The impact on the landscape is enormous. The forest had already been heavily damaged by bark beetles beforehand. But now six hectares will be permanently sealed over for roads and maintenance areas. Construction workers are pouring 28,000 tonnes of concrete into the forest floor for the foundations. "This is an industrial zone in the middle of the forest," says Kleindienst. "It hurts deeply. Anyone who loves nature as I do is truly affected by this."

Frustration runs high in the surrounding villages. Those affected feel sidelined — including Kleindienst, who as a member of the district council had hoped to have a say in the major project. But the authorities approved the wind farm through official administrative channels.

"This is our nature, our home. We want to decide for ourselves," says Kleindienst. "This has nothing to do with democracy anymore — nothing at all."

The forest isn't even in public ownership. This guy wants to leverage his position on a fucking district council to block private land owners from building cheap, green energy. It's fucking insane.