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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ajit Niranjan

‘Yes to fields of wheat, no to fields of iron’: how the world’s greenest country soured on solar

A village surrounded by fields of solar panels.
The village of Hjolderup in Denmark, which is surrounded by solar panels. Photograph: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

In one telling of the story, the golden fields of a proud farming nation are under attack. Besieged by an industrial sprawl of solar panels, they are being smothered at the behest of an urban elite.

That narrative has failed to thrive in conservative heartlands such as Texas and Hungary, which have embraced solar power while lambasting green rules. But it is taking root in Denmark, the most climate-ambitious nation on Earth. “We say yes to fields of wheat,” said Inger Støjberg, the leader of the rightwing populist Denmark Democrats in a speech in 2024. “And we say no to fields of iron!”

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