WIND ENERGY HAS BENEFITS
I find it interesting that the folks at East Point who are so adamantly opposed to wind turbines in their area never mention any of the benefits of wind energy as part of a larger solution. You know, that whole CO2 emission, global warming thing. You know, the polar icecaps melting, the droughts, the flooding, the wildfires currently in Australia, the extinction of thousands of animal species.
There is mention of the turbine devastation of bird populations. In fact, according to Nature Canada, a wind turbine is responsible for 8.2 bird casualties per year. My picture window does better than that. If you are really concerned, try banning outdoor cats, which are responsible for killing 200 million birds in Canada alone.
There is mention of the “devastation” wreaked on Germany, whose renewable energy makes up an incredible 43 per cent of their entire consumption. It was quoted hat half a million Germans can’t pay their electricity bills – pretty par for the course. In Germany, 52 per cent of the cost of electricity is not for the electrify itself, but for taxes, levies and surcharges.
There is mention that the first windmills in Cowley Ridge, Alta., are “headed for the scrap heap after 23 years” – failing to mention that the average shelf life of a wind turbine is indeed between 20-25 years. No wonder parts aren’t available. How many of us are driving cars built in the 1990s?
As for the medical claims, touted moronically by Donald Trump (turbines give you cancer) – bogus. He has been anti-wind from the beginning, partly because his coal industry buddies, and partly because Scotland wouldn’t bow to his demands that the wind turbines opposite his golf course be removed.
If you sweep away all the East
Point bluster and buss, it boils down to NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard. I would hazard a guess that pretty much all the East Point detractors would say they are adamantly opposed to global warming, and I again would hazard that in small print they would add “as long as it doesn’t ruin my view.” Fair enough. But enough with the song and dance.
Peter Vincent,
Mount Stewart