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In his office on the main street of Kincardine, Ont., 200 km west of Toronto, Bob Simpson admits to being puzzled. Across his desk is splayed a large land survey map blocked out with yellow squares, each indicating properties where the company for which he is local general manager, the natural gas giant Enbridge, has signed leases to install 110 wind turbines. But not everybody along this stretch of Lake Huron shore is happy to become part of what is being touted as one of Canada's largest wind farms, and Simpson, who has worked on Enbridge's projects in western Canada for nearly 30 years, says, "we were surprised by the extent of the opposition."
The lure of creating a thriving “green” economy has politicians around the world scrambling to push green policies through their legislatures. But a recent study from California says that the state will suffer job losses, higher-priced goods, lower business profits and reduced income if it goes ahead with its climate policies and other jurisdictions don’t follow suit. For some industries and firms, the negative impacts from the policies could be significant. Worse still, the report admits that while the researchers are sure the effect of the climate policies will be negative in the near term, they’re unsure how the policies will play out for the state’s economy in the future—largely because it’s impossible to determine who will follow California’s lead in implementing the policies. If others don’t join in, then California may struggle to keep up.
With regard to the proposed Camlachie-Cedar Point Wind Turbine Project. Wind turbines are not green. How much energy is consumed to produce, install, operate, maintain and dispose of these behemoths? Their wide disbursement requires the installation of miles of distribution cables which will produce widespread corona values as well as other unnecessary hazards. Oh yea, what is it that causes the hole in the ozone layer? Corona? What is the life expectancy of these units? Then what? Do we get to admire a moonscape of derelicts? Has the government demanded a bond on deposit to guarantee a fund for the removal of these structures when the time comes? Why would any responsible company build these units along a lake shore that has such highly desirable properties for residential and agricultural use? Could it be because it is the cheapest place for them to build them so as to make the most profit? Is there any doubt?
Opponents of a proposed wind farm off the Scarborough Bluffs have adopted the old Bob Dylan folk classic, with their own spin, as a rallying cry: ‘the answer is not blowing in the wind.’
About 150 residents from the Guildwood area gathered Thursday evening to map out a strategy against the province’s plan to install wind turbines about two kilometres south of the bluffs, in Lake Ontario.
Under the banner of Toronto Wind Action, the group held a forum called ‘Finally the Truth About Turbines’ at Sir Wilfred Laurier Collegiate.
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