Saint-Père-en-Retz (France) (AFP)

Orange construction helmet on his head and equipped with a harness, Yannick Jadot, as in the best hours of his actions at Greenpeace, climbed to the top of one of the three wind turbines in the Saint-Père-en-Retz park, in 100 meters high.

"We're here to say how much we support wind power," he said, over the surrounding grove, cows grazing, and farmers plowing their plots.

"We will not give up on the energy transition," assured the candidate, credited with between 7 and 9% of the voting intentions.

"The President of the Republic wants to condemn the French to have increasingly high energy bills, he condemns the French to energy intoxication, to justify a technological choice, that of nuclear, which is a risky choice which will cost a lot. dear ", he developed, once back on dry land.

He recommends "controlling energy consumption", particularly electricity, for example by better insulation of buildings, and the gradual deployment of renewable energies.

But "nuclear, we are not going to close it tomorrow. By being totally responsible, we will close the reactors as and when we no longer need them, quite simply", explained the MEP, in jeans and blue sweater.

Launched at the end of 2015 by the company Valorem, the three wind turbines at the Saint-Père-en-Retz farm produce 18,500 megawatt / hour per year, and have not aroused any appeal from opponents, explained the director of the company, Jean-Yves Grandidier.

The project is partly financed by crowdfunding, in particular from the local population (72%).

And brings local tax to the municipalities, he added.

"Responsible"

"It is a 100% winning project", for Yannick Jadot, because "it makes it possible to finance local communities, to fight against energy poverty and to create local employment".

In total, the Pays de Retz has 51 wind turbines, explained the mayor of Corcoué-sur-Lognes, a neighboring commune, Claude Naud, a staunch supporter of wind power, even if his commune was unable to install any, despite his wish, due to the presence of a military radar.

But wind turbines are sometimes criticized, by local residents' associations, and also by the right and the extreme right, who highlight the nuisances they cause: noise, damage to the landscape, proximity to homes, natural sites or historical ...

"When some people want to install wind power in a Natura 2000 zone, I can understand that this can be debated", explained Mr. Jadot.

"But environmentalists have never defended the idea of ​​replacing the spire of Notre-Dame with a wind turbine, we are serious."

"Listen, there is no noise", underlined the deputy of Loire-Atlantique Matthieu Orphelin, who accompanied him like many members of his campaign team.

"A drone makes more noise," he emphasizes.

"We love landscapes, we defend our natural heritage, our cultural heritage. We have a vision of the development of wind power which is perfectly responsible", defended Yannick Jadot.

For him "ecology is giving back purchasing power to the French".

"When today you invest in renewable energies, the costs of which are only decreasing, rather than in nuclear energy, the costs of which are only increasing, it is ecology that is the friend of power purchase, "continued the environmental candidate.

While the president of the Pays-de-Loire region Christelle Morancais has just voted in favor of a "small nuclear power plant", replacing the thermal power plant which is due to close in Cordemais, Mr. Jadot ruled that this decision was "responsible neither towards its territory nor towards the employees of the Cordemais plant".

© 2021 AFP