**10. Conclusion**

In conclusion it is argued that the Not-in-my-Backyard syndrome in relation to wind farming is alive and thriving, and that the notion needs to be critically assessed because nonrational arguments have rational consequences, i.e. threaten to undermine plans to facilitate wind turbines in regional and rural Australia. As this literature review shows, NIMBYism comes from many sources and there is no easy answer to the non-rational arguments embedded in the concept, there is no easy way to convince local residents in rural and regional Australia that wind farming presents a viable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The influence of the powerful coal industry cannot be underestimated. Evidence exists that people in that industry create fears, uncertainty and doubt. Looking at climate change and at Australia's CO2 emissions, there is an urgency to consider wind power in a more positive way. It is believed that governments and developers play an important role in promoting wind power and that better communication between different stake holders, including the public, has to take place. Improved communication has to be built on trust so that non-rational perspectives can change. As Sections 3 and 8 demonstrate, the siting of a wind farm can have a negative effect on people's sense of place. One rational issue to be argued by proponents of wind energy is the creation of new jobs in the industry. Employment in this new industry could be an escape from poverty in rural and regional Australia, and it could be the catalyst to welcome wind farming. "Farmers are reaping rewards from wind energy" is an article written by Brown (August 21, 2000):

Farmers and ranchers in the United States are discovering that they own not only land, but also the wind rights that accompany it. A farmer in Iowa who leases a quarter acre of cropland to the local utility has a site for a wind turbine can typically earn \$2,000 a year in royalties from the electricity produced. In a good year, that same plot can produce \$100 worth of corn.

Just one last thought: Coleby, Miller and Aspinall (2009) find that young people are more accepting of wind turbines than older ones. This then raises the question, do we have to wait another generation to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions? If NIMBYism, as explored in this chapter, persists, Australia may have no option. But that would be a coal-grey future; therefore hope has to prevail that attitudes will change: "We have a larger moral responsibility to reduce our emissions than most other nations and most other people" (Clarke, 2008, p. 9).

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Show cited in David Clarke's *The Ramblings of a Bush Philosopher*
