Sunday, February 20, 2011

wind blows. apparently.



I love the way wind bites my face as I walk to school. It stings a little, mostly in the recesses of my nostrils. Sometimes when I step outside first thing in the morning, I am afraid to inhale because the cold air burns my lungs as they adjust to the outside temperature.

Wow, that has nothing to do with anything.

Ok, so this past week the Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty put the kibosh on off shore wind farms. A minor component of Ontario's renewable energy strategy was placed under a moratorium, due to a "lack of research on the health effects of windmills". People living in close proximity to windmills report nausea, dizziness, and headaches. The Premiere's election campaign has been met with fierce "Anti-Windmill" resistance, mainly in the form of NIMBYism. Other provincial parties claim the premier's move to stop offshore windmills was purely political; meaning it was only to garner votes. Who Knows?

I can see how the loud whirring of a windmill may cause irritation. But dizziness? You'd either have to stand really close, or be constantly staring at it to get dizziness. Maybe just put the windmills far away from densely populated areas? How close do you have to be to a windmill in order to be affected? Is the constant low frequency being emitted a problem? I don't know. There is some legitimacy in the "windmills are bad for you campaign", but there is also legitimacy in the "let's use more renewable energy campaign"

We must find a compromise. Who would least benefit from renewable wind energy? Would it cut into the profits of natural gas suppliers? How would 1000 windmills per sq. mile affect aquatic life? Does the value presented in offshore wind power outweigh the environmental and social upset?

I wish Canada would follow the reported success of Holland's wind power generation. But even in Holland , the land of the windmill, there has been a negative response from townsfolk who live with windmills.

Here are some news articles:

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