Sharing of Information - We are not alone!

Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 12:43 PM
Subject: [windconcerns] Letter to Editor



"It may be that the health concerns are overblown. The verdict is still out. But in some respects health issues have become a red herring.
Proponents say it's really about NIMBY: Not in my backyard. The real issue, they say, is "just" esthetics. No landowner wants to stare at a giant turbine as it sits on another landowner's property, smack in the middle of what used to be the view."

Michael Den Tandt, Sun Times Newspaper

Your comments tell me that you don't live near any wind turbines Michael. They also tell me you are uninformed and unconcerned as are many who don't have the prospect of another sleepless night, another unexplained headache that no pill can touch or any other adverse effect that has assaulted families living near turbines. The people in this province who are experiencing debilitating health issues, the same ones who were fine before turbine installations started up nearby, have been publicly revictimized by your flippant remark.

The verdict is absolutely NOT out for these people Michael. They know what is happening to them. They know it's real. They know their body is being assaulted by noise and vibration. So does this government. So does the wind industry proponent.

It's stunning that you call the health issue a "red herring". I see families having to abandon their homes, families being billeted in motels by wind companies, people who've quietly and reluctantly sold a home they've lived in for decades because they can't stand it anymore (and heaven help the poor soul who moved in next), people bringing lawsuit after lawsuit against proponents, people trapped and getting sicker with every day that passes, as an enormous red flag to the people of this province.

Of course proponents say it's NIMBY. Of course you don't expect them to discredit their own product, any more than the tobacco industry would discredit theirs. The wind industry seems to have studied techniques used by the tobacco company. They work very hard to deny problems exist. They use lobbyist language to describe people who are pro health and pro viability; NIMBY, anti wind, detractors and opponents. I see that much of the media simply latches onto these terms,even when they are trying to express concerns with the issue.

Talk to the people who have or are living in a mess of turbines. They'll tell you what's going on. Many of them will tell you they are too damn sick to worry about their view.

As McGuinty plans for several thousand more wind turbines to sit next to several tens of thousands more people, some very close to towns, perhaps the serious health issues will become clearer to those who choose to call it "overblown". I want Ontario families to be healthy and safe. Perhaps a better alternative would be a moratorium on turbines until independent (as opposed to reports and 'studies' paid for and submitted to govt. by the wind industry) studies by health professionals support claims made by this industry that people are not getting hurt. Is that too much to ask for?

Lorrie Gillis

Grey Highlands