Despite the government’s support for wind power expansion, including Energy Minister Ebba Busch’s statement that “new wind power is needed everywhere,” Sweden Democrats, a government partner, is opposed to wind power. “I want to go in the complete opposite direction. I don’t want wind power at all,” said SD member Oscar Sjöstedt in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet. According to Sjöstedt, he speaks for the whole party in opposing wind power, which he believes is harmful to the environment and “sabotages” animals and people, causing psychological problems from noise pollution. Instead of wind power, Sjöstedt suggests investing in nuclear power. Although SD has supported additional wind power expansion investigations in the Tidö agreement with the government, Sjöstedt threatens to oppose the government if they cannot agree on the reduction obligation for biofuel. Negotiations have not yet begun, but SD wants a zero percent share of biofuels from January 1, 2024. Sjöstedt now softens his statement, saying he wanted to emphasize an important issue.
Despite the fact that the government is in favor of the expansion of wind power and that Energy Minister Ebba Busch (KD) has said that “new wind power is needed everywhere”, the government partner Sweden Democrats is completely against wind power.
– I want to go in the complete opposite direction. I don’t want wind power at all, he says in an interview in Svenska Dagbladet.
According to Sjöstedt, “he probably speaks for the whole party”.
Sjöstedt believes that wind power is harmful to the environment and “sabotages” animals and people.
– People get psychological problems because their night’s sleep is ruined by the sound. It sabotages nature. It is expensive, inefficient, unplanned and it depends on the weather, he tells SvD.
He will also “fight” against the expansion of wind power and believes that it would be best to “pick away the wind turbines that already exist”, but that it is “economically wisest that they be allowed to live out their useful life.”
According to Oscar Sjöstedt, you should instead of wind power – which in 2021 accounted for 17 percent of electricity production in Sweden – invest in nuclear power.
At the same time, in the Tidö agreement with the government, SD has supported additional assignments to several investigations to develop the expansion of wind power, including an investigation into how the municipalities are to be compensated for wind power expansion.
Last week, Oscar Sjöstedt threatened with the government if they could not agree on the reduction obligation – how much biofuel should be mixed in petrol and diesel.
The negotiations with the government has not started, but SD’s input is that it should be zero percent from January 1, 2024. The Moderates and the Christian Democrats have signaled that they want to see the share of biofuel at around 6 percent, while Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari (L) has talked about 12–16 percent .
Oscar Sjöstedt now softens his statement and tells SvD that he wanted to emphasize an important issue.
– Then maybe you should be a little self-critical and not use such dramatic terminology. I think the point was made in any case, he says.
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