A disrupted view is often a reason to oppose a wind farm or solar field project, whereas the social gains from reducing climate change and air pollution are harder to perceive. Against the visible infrastructure of new transmission lines, battery storage, wind turbines and solar installations, the benefits of a cleaner, more sustainable energy system can drop out of sight.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) frames renewable energy as the “industrialisation of the countryside”, and its lobbying has constrained government energy policy slowing our transition to clean energy. Local CPRE groups delay and stall planning consents to solar and wind projects in their region, even targeting the transmission lines bringing power ashore from offshore windfarms as in Braunton in North Devon.

While CPRE acknowledges that the consequences of climate change pose the greatest threat to our food security, writing on its website that “60% of England’s finest Grade 1 agricultural land is within areas at the highest risk of flooding from climate change”, its supporters cite food security as the reason to not repurpose a small proportion of agricultural land for new energy infrastructure – 0.6% for solar and 0.02% to triple onshore wind to meet the country’s net zero targets of 90GW solar and 45GW wind energy.

Objectors exert more negative influence on politicians and planners than their numbers justify, as surveys show the British public’s strong support for renewables (88%) and wind turbines (79%) (Public Attitudes Tracker, 2022). Unfamiliarity seems to increase the likelihood of objections, as people living close to wind turbines are even more accepting (81%, Opinium poll, 2023).

The rural idyll that is promoted by CPRE has never truly existed. The countryside has always been modified by human activity, today by intensive chemical agriculture and in the past by industry. The landscapes of Devon and Cornwall were shaped in previous centuries by copper and tin mining. The remnants of mines, engines houses, canals, railways, quarries and china clay workings, along with new towns and villages, are the legacy of the past industrialisation of the countryside.

These are valued and celebrated as part of our industrial heritage – the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors to Cornwall enjoy this heritage set against the wind turbines and solar installations of today.

Truly protecting our countryside means safeguarding its ability to sustain life. An over-emphasis on a two-dimensional view follows the approach of 18th century landscaper, Capability Brown. His idealised landscapes were picturesque imitations of nature – for which mature trees and even entire villages were removed to achieve the perfect ‘natural’ look. His ‘improved’ landscapes boosted the prestige – and no doubt the property values – of his wealthy clients. Although one contemporary critic remarked that he hoped to die before Brown so that he could “see heaven before it was ‘improved’”.

How will our descendants view our choices? Will they value the new ‘energy’ landscapes as their heritage? Or blame us for prioritising the view over sparing them the worst impacts of climate change?