Star comment: Choices are stark on energy

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Though the farm would be environmentally-friendly and would avoid causing the greenhouse gases that fossil fuels cause, it would not be easy on the eye.

And that, in a nutshell, is what locals oppose.

The fight for the future of Tasley's countryside is symptomatic of what is happening at other locations across Shropshire.

The county has been at the centre of a series of protests in recent times. Gas drilling, wind turbines, the installation of power lines and solar farms are part of the not-so-perfect storm buffeting the county.

While many find such options unpalatable, there is an immutable fact that we must all face: our dependence on fossil fuels is slowly coming to an end and decisions must be made on how we fuel our future lives.

For decades, we've been hooked on coal, oil and gas. The nation has benefited hugely from North Sea oil and gas and from vast coalfields across the UK. The times, however, are a-changing and within our lifetime some of those reserves will run out.

That picture is replicated around the world, where the global dependence on fossil fuels is slowly but surely coming to an end. While such alternative energy sources as fracking, solar farms, wind turbines and nuclear may seem undesirable, we will soon have no choice but to embrace them.

All of those have downsides. Nuclear carries cataclysmic risks. Wind and solar carry the high probability of destroying the natural beauty of our much-loved countryside. Fracking, according to protesters, carries the risk of polluting ground water.

And yet, when we consider the downsides of fossil fuels, we are faced with a simple fact: it was ever thus.

Politicians need to stage a reasoned debate and do so quickly. The public needs to be well -informed and it needs to have a say.

In the final analysis, we may face a choice of the lesser of all evils. But if we want to continue to switch on our TVs and power our kettles, that is what we'll have to put up with.