When an application for a wind farm gives rise to yet another public inquiry the heart sinks ("VisitScotland admits wind farms could harm tourism", The Herald, October 22).

Regardless of the evidence presented, the final decision will be made by the First Minister and almost inevitably the wind farm will proceed. This will certainly be the fate of the developments proposed for the site near Lockerbie and at Allt Duine in the Highlands. VisitScotland's warning that the industrialisation of Scotland's incomparable landscape will have an adverse impact on our tourist industry is long overdue but already too late.

Clearly Alex Salmond is oblivious to this and has made the extraordinary claim that wind farms enhance our appeal as a country. At the Ryder Cup final ceremony he invited the world to come to Gleneagles in two years and see our magnificent scenery, without considering that due to his own efforts this is fast disappearing under wind turbines and pylon lines.

It will be interesting to see how he reacts to the applications for the extension of the wind farm in the Ochils which will be visible from Gleneagles. The truth is that the Scottish Government has yet to offer a policy on renewable energy which would direct developers to more appropriate sites and the result is increasing devastation.

Come to Sheriffmuir and witness this devastation. It is already driving away tourists, including groups who were planning to come to Scotland to mark the 300th anniversary of the great battle in which their ancestors had taken part. Alarmed that the Scottish Government approved a large access road and giant pylon line to destroy this historic site, they have cancelled their tour.

Thanks to Mr Salmond and his eager but blind support for the chosen route for the Beauly to Denny pylon line, the heart of this site is in the process of being mangled; there is no other word for it. Long after we have forgotten what the SNP may have achieved in government we will have the scars of wind farms and pylons to remind us of their most enduring legacy.

Virginia Wills,

Glentye,

Sheriffmuir.

TV adverts by VisitScotland noticeably steer clear of any pictures with wind farms; running somewhat contrary to Alex Salmond's claim they "enhance our appeal as a country".

Their installation has to be balanced against the need for a secure supply of electricity; we put up with pylons after all. Much more important than appearances is the contribution by the turbines to reducing global warming– caused in the main by carbon dioxide emissions; CO2 reduction being the prime motive of installing wind farms.

It is worthwhile noting the latest data from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), responsible for monitoring the world's CO2 levels. The latest September 2012 data report is remarkable.

The danger level for CO2 is set at 350 units; it is now at 391.07 units. The annual rise last year was a scary 2.12 units; however this current year showed a rise of 2.12 units, exactly the same. This despite the past year having the greatest ever worldwide installation of wind turbines. Given their installation began in earnest in 1995 and the numbers have risen year on year, is it not time "to think again" about the failure of wind farms to even make a dent in the rise of the CO2 emissions graph?

The IPCCs graph as displayed in CO2now.org continues to rise. As the green parties would say – time to come clean.

Bob Hamilton,

55 Halbeath Road,

Dunfermline.

It is pretty rich for Donald Trump to complain of defamation in the television documentary You've Been Trumped when he has taken every opportunity to rubbish and harass Anthony Baxter, the film's director, in the crudest and most abusive terms.

Mr Baxter and his team dug deep into their limited resources to make the film – having been disgracefully let down by Creative Scotland who withdrew their initial £10,000 offer of support with the absurd argument that the subject would not be popular enough. (The BBC 2 showing attracted one million viewers after 10 pm.)

The Trump outfit declined the offer to respond to the film, as did the Scottish Government and Grampian Police – the latter having handcuffed Mr Baxter, seized his camera and held him in the cells for four hours.

Someone should tell Mr Trump that though it might seem like it, bully boy tactics do not always win the day.

Incidentally, I understand it is the BBC nationally and not BBC Scotland who should be congratulated on showing the film.

Bill Williams,

ArtWork, Mill Business Centre, PO Box 3, Ellon.

I had a reaction of concern similar to Fraser Russell after watching Anthony Baxter's excellent documentary You've Been Trumped (Letters, October 23).

Coming only weeks after the revelation in your newspaper that Alex Salmond had sought Donald Trump's endorsement of the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, my concern was mixed with a sense of shame that our country will be seen in the same way as banana republics are by our American cousins.

There seems to be no end to the lengths Mr Salmond will go to court the combover capitalist.

If our First Minister can crumble so easily before the man contemptuously dismissed by the current US President as a "carnival barker", one shudders to think how Mr Salmond would stand up to the pressure of a hawkish US administration seeking an independent Scotland's backing for some future military-industrial complex inspired conflict in the Middle East.

Tom Minogue,

94 Victoria Terrace,

Dunfermline.

The narrow vote on Nato at the SNP's Perth party conference seems to suggest party members are less subservient to Alex Salmond than is often suggested.

It is also widely thought that Brian Souter's donations to, and support for, the Nationalists means he is able to bend party policy to his will. It is, however, perfectly obvious the Scottish Government is now minded to legislate for the sort of equal marriage Mr Souter's religious beliefs could well find abhorrent.

Peter A Russell claims Mr Salmond can do no other than bow to the wishes of Donald Trump (Letters, October 23). Mr Trump, let us remember, is threatening the SNP Government with legal action over a wind farm that might spoil the view from his golf course.

Is it not perfectly obvious that, in spite of the propaganda suggesting otherwise, all the evidence points to the fact the SNP is actually a highly democratic organisation?

David C Purdie,

12 Mayburn Vale,

Loanhead,

Midlothian.

In response to Messrs Russell (Letters October 23), I agree Alex Salmond's handling of Donald Trump was not his finest hour but neither was it Gordon Brown's when he went to the Mansion House to praise the City's casino capitalists for their "innovative" methods of doing business.

It is not just politicians from smaller countries who can be dazzled by big money.

Andrew M Fraser,

Cradlehall Cottage,

Caulfield Road North,

Inverness.