To think these animals are still alive. To think, this is day 45 and yet only the beginning.
When are we going to consume less? When is government going to recognize the importance of small, sustainable and safe energy production? What of this world will be left for my children?
Hm… There wont be a world left here pretty soon. Florida beaches, so full of life, are going to be completely destroyed for such a long time if not forever. Its getting worse, the damn oil might just carry on into the atlantic, and thats a huge huge ugly mean mess that i doubt will be punished or cleaned enough. 2 more months of gushing oil into the gulf left, if not more.
It was coming sometime. We need to let things get this bad before any positive change happens, it seems. Get angry people, and change things.
those photos are so heart wrenching. it fucking kills me.
Those pictures break my heart.
this makes me want to vomit, cry and fight back all at the same time!
I enjoy reading about your beautiful family it give me hope that someday i will make it out of the city and have my own bit of heaven, the same way you have……please don’t stop writing I learn so much from you.
Aren’t wind turbines “small, safe and sustainable” energy production? I’m not suggesting you should have one in the back yard, but it seems like one of the closest things we have to it. Given your recent local issues, I’m just curious to know how you would balance the risk/benefit. But yes, I agree, oil consumption has been out of control for way too long.
The most upsetting pictures I’ve seen in a long time.
Makes me sick…
Why do we let them keep destroying this place.
Wind is indeed a form of small, safe, and sustainable energy. Renewable as well. One of the main goals of promoting wind energy is to reduce our reliance on oil. Although I understand where your fears come from (NIMBY is a universal thing), I wish there was a way to assuage your fears and make you realize what a beautiful amazing thing wind farms can be.
We are all responsible in our own way for the oil spill. I get very upset that people are so pissed off this is happening and they get angry at the oil company. “How can they do that? Those ASSHOLES” as we hop in our vehicles for a trip across town when we could walk. We asked them to in a sense. We ‘need’ the oil and the fuel to meet our demanding, consuming ways. Why are there not more people stopping and asking how we can work towards eliminating the dependency? Not asking WHY was the pipe line there in the first place??? How can we go forward and phase this archaic shit out of our world?? We are getting upset at the wrong things if you ask me.
Jeff, anything that’s over 100 meters tall isn’t small or sustainable. And they are very far from safe.
I would have a small turbine in my yard in a minute. Wouldn’t effect my property value, my enjoyment of my property, my health, the health of my farm animals, soil ecology (earth worm scatter), pest control (bat deaths)… wouldn’t line the pockets of Samsung and the Alberta Tar Sands and would actually create power that I could USE. There are serious problems with the power being produced by industrial wind turbines. It is phenomenally dirty, unstable, hard to move.
Sue, I am all for SMALL scale wind development. Do you know who Enbridge is? They own the largest crude oil pipeline in the entire world. Do you know who Suncor is? Suncor is Sunoco is PetroCanada. They build these monoliths so they can keep on trucking. If you think INDUSTRIAL wind is getting people off oil, I am sorry to tell you that you are mistaken. Wind does not blow all the time and these things rely on coal and gas plants which in some places are being created to support them. I could go on and on and on here.
Look past the green washing of industrial wind please. These things are green like “Clorox Green Cleaners!” or “Organic Biodyamic Doritos!”
BusyBee – I agree. We need to consume less. Small, sustainable, decentralized power production with a massive dip in consumption would be a nice place to start I think.
I couldn’t agree more. We need to realize that the Earth’s resources aren’t infinite and that the only way we survive as a society (and possibly as a species) is to consume less, and sustainably.
It would also be nice if people would realize that capitalism and democracy aren’t the same thing. BP still doesn’t give a damn about the harm it’s caused, as far as they’re concerned, this is still just a big PR problem. It’s disgusting and no society should tolerate it.
Daniel – PR problem exactly!
Well put Ashley–two thumbs up for your knowledgeable reply!
How does one assuage our fears about our local industrial windfarms when they have taken away the health of so many people/animals and we, the little people, have no say in them? Neighbours have turned against each other,homes have been deserted, lives have been changed and not for the better. Many of the communities in our area have been affected in more ways than one. All to go so called “green” and save the enviro apparently but I think the cost is so much bigger than what apparently they are “saving” us by allowing the industrial wind farms in.Go big or go home seems to be the theme of the world now adays. There have got to be a million other better ways we can go green that really are truly green. We need to return to the basics of life.
“There have got to be a million other better ways we can go green that really are truly green. We need to return to the basics of life.”
You got it!
I actually do environmental permitting for wind farms for a living. I’m an environmental scientist. I can assure you that none of the wind farms I’ve been associated with have relied on, or had anything to do with, coal or gas. The biggest issue for wind farms is the lack of transmission nearby. As for the safety issue…unfortunately there’s a lot of propaganda regarding safety concerns, both for wind and transmission. All the legitimate testing indicates they are safe. But again, I understand why you are concerned… you have children and if there’s even a chance they could negatively affect your children, you are right to be concerned. Unfortunately there’s a lot of bad science out there though.
What is the quality of the power that comes from the windturbines? You do the permitting but once they are up is there any testing done? What do you use to test the power quality? Is there a difference between the windturbines you provide permits for and the ones in our area that are popping up everywhere?
Suncor and Acciona have admitted to there being power quality issues by trying to correct the problem to some degree in our area. They have buried the transmission lines. They also put an insulator between the neutral line and the grounding grid for the wind farm. Wind turbines are extremely electrically polluting. To quote the Canada Freepress article (I have included the link below as it is too big to copy and paste it on the blog) “Studies and anecdotal reports associate electrical pollution with a similar set of symptoms to those experienced by the residents of the area (1, 2, 3). The symptoms associated with electrical pollution are caused by overexposure to high frequencies and are known as radio wave sickness (4). Technical papers discuss the fact that it requires only very small amounts of high frequency signals (either from transients or communications) on wiring to induce significant electrical currents in the human body. They support findings of human health problems caused by exposure to even small amounts of high frequencies (5, 6). The specific symptoms experienced depend on both the frequencies present and the body type and height of the person being exposed. Increased risk of cancer is associated with exposure to both “dirty” power on wires and electrical ground currents (7, 8). Animals also experience health problems related to electrical pollution exposures. Dairy cow’s milk production and health suffers as exposure to high frequency transients increases (9, 10).” There may be a lot of bad science out there but there is also alot of living examples proving the health effects. I am not sure where you are from or if you live near a windturbine farm but there are many individuals and farmers in our area that will vouch to the effects we are all experiencing in our area. I BEG as a wife/mother/individual experiencing the health effects PLEASE be open to the possibility that these windturbines need more study before they are up and running. I miss my old life with my husband and children prior to becoming electrically hypersensitive in February. Had we not discovered what was causing my health effects I can completely assure you I would not be here today as I became that acutely sick. There is not enough information out there regarding the health concerns and the effects on humans/animals. People don’t have the education and knowledge at this point to understand and see the connection between the dirtyelectricity (which industrial windturbines do give off) and ones health. Technology is advancing so fast the health effects are not visible completely but will be in a few years. My husband is an electrician and was never taught any of this but after experiencing first hand the health effects by myself and our children in our home he has taken the time to learn about the effects of windturbines and dirty electricity. I work with doctors and as a Registered Nurse I can assure you that the doctors and myself were never taught about the health effects so many people in our area are experiencing–including myself and my children. I can 110% guarantee you though that they are real and not going away. I have provided info to some doctors in our area and have myself as a testimate to the legitimacy. Its going to to be one of those situations similar to tobacco and asbestos where years from now we “discover” that the health effects are detrimental to us. This is our opportunity to educate ourselves and others before it is too late.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/10634–This is an article by the Canada Freepress that discusses the windfarms in our area, concerns, and health effects.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/10634
Sorry–this link should work. I had an extra word in the other link that takes you to the wrong article!
Sue, how then are the wind turbines you have worked on started? Everything here relies on back up and cannot be black started. The joke in our community is that the power produced by our local nuclear power plant is not ideal for getting them moving when the winds aren’t blowing. Gas and coal are.
An environmental technologist friend owns this EcoFit Green Home for sale because they are in the middle of optioned land.
http://twwly.com/2010/04/22/fabulous-farm-for-sale/
Oh, the “evidence”.
I have read “the latest” if you will. Arlene King’s report, which as far as I could tell, was a recap of mostly industry sponsored material, wrought with contradiction, even within her own paper. She does not deny the possibility of health effects, but says no link has been established between turbine noise and health effects. But it’s already widely accepted that 40dBA impacts children in a learning environment. I’m not worried about them becoming “hearing impaired”, I’m worried about the life long effect on learning and development from living amongst industrial turbines, especially given our particular case where we will be homeschooling. Her report states clearly that “little information is available on actual measurements.” I have not yet seen a study using real people, I’d like to see one. And what of low frequency vibration, or dirty electricity issues coming from the lines? These issues need to be better understood and regulated before more development takes place.
A woman named Barbara Ashbee of Shelburne, Ontario is speaking at our local community ‘Wind Information Night’ on June 24th here in Kincardine. She is one of handful of people whose homes were purchased by Canadian Hydro Developers after experiencing negative health effects. They shut off the turbine closest to her home, which sat at 450 metres away. The next closest turbine was 700 metres away. Her symptoms continued. The dirty electricity coming off the lines essentially turned her house into a giant microwave and she and her husband were forced to sleep in a tent in their yard. She described life in their house like ‘living inside a washing machine’, the noise was constant, cyclical and kept them up at night. The company finally bought their home. How is 550 metres a safe distance? Is 549 metres unsafe? These numbers are baseless.
I buy my goat & sheep mineral from a dealer in Ripley. Within view of his farm are five other farms which have been abandoned by families who could not cope with living beside the turbines. They didn’t leave homes they had grown up in, farmed on and hoped to retire and die on for kicks.
Arlene King should have talked to those people, or their doctors. Or any of the other 100+ registered Ontarians who are reporting difficulties living beside turbines.
Most troubling for me in the news this week was the confirmation from the MOE that they do not have the capacity to either record or assess noise produced by wind farms. Documentation exists which shows many ON turbines operating as high as 53dBA. How are noise levels going to be assessed if we have complaints?
To quote Carl Sagan: “Absence of evidence does not mean evidence is absent.”
So yes Sue, I am worried about my children. And myself, and my neighbours and anyone else forced to live an unjustifiably close distance from an industrial wind turbine.
thats sooooo sad i am a pet kinda person so if anyone would like to bring me a pet i am avaable
They have sent the National Guard here to help with BP claims. Hrm. Help how exactly? Help intimidate us?
I think my blood just boiled. This disgusts me to RAGE
Twwly- how may I “share” this blog post? I want to reference back to your original post, but don’t want to rip you off. Would you place some sort of share button, whether twitter of whatev? I want peeeps to seeeeeee this. Thx.
Those pictures make me think of some terrible things from human’s history. Will they jump on me if I call it Animals’ Holocaust? But that’s how it looks. We are humans, we do this to our own, now we do it to defenseless animals, too.