Why the Dutch opposes windmills | Dutch Quixote. Wind energy once powered the Netherlands. Not anymore. Economist, July 4, 2015.
the first several sentences: “During its 17th-century golden age, the Netherlands was the world’s most enthusiastic exploiter of wind technology. Over 10,000 windmills dotted the landscape; the city walls of Amsterdam were crowned with a row of them. Today many Dutch find the stereotype of their country as the land of windmills irritating -- and inaccurate. Wind turbines supplied just 5.2% of the Netherlands’ electricity in 2014, far behind Germany, Spain or Denmark.
Note:
(a) There i s no need to read the rest of the text, which explains why modern Netherlands are not enthusiastic about wind power.
(b) Singular or plural. Economist, undated
www.economist.com/style-guide/singular-or-plural
(“A government, a party, a company (whether Tesco or Marks and Spencer) and a partnership (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) are all it and take a singular verb. So does a country, even if its name looks plural. Thus The Philippines has a congressional system, as does the United States; the Netherlands does not”)
* "The council are at sixes and sevens."
At sixes and sevens. The phrase Finder, undated.
www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/sixes-and-sevens.html
(c) flood control in the Netherlands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_control_in_the_Netherlands
("Further drainage could only be accomplished after the development of the polder windmill in the 15th century. The winddriven waterpump has become one of the trademark tourist attraction of the Netherlands. * * * The polders, now often below sea level, were kept dry with mills pumping water")
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