What an interesting response to my letter about energy supplies.

Lots of comments about how wind turbines seek out and kill rare birds and bats, and of course chase tourists away, but nothing about how we are going to keep the lights on and industry working.

Of course all forms of energy production bring risks and make profits. As a coal miner's grand daughter, it goes without saying.  Deep sea oil rigs, oil tankers and trains, fracking and nuclear power all make money and all put our environment at risk.

But on balance, wind turbines are relatively low risk and, in the right location, produce a lot more energy than they cost to build. Small-scale water power similarly has a good risk to output ratio. Solar panels bring some risks but their output is lower compared to the energy cost of manufacture.

And although no form of energy production is pretty, wind turbines are no worse than pylons and telegraph poles and we manage to tolerate them.

What worries me is that the irrational fears of a minority of people will prevent us looking at ways to mitigate a very real problem – that we cannot maintain our current lifestyles without causing chaotic changes to our weather or waste that will be hazardous for thousands of years.

That's the problem that we need to be thinking about, both as individuals and as a community.

– Jacky Smith, Coalway.