Contact Wind Concerns Ontario: windconcerns@gmail.com
Wind Concerns Ontario is in favor of responsible, sound solutions to our energy demands and environmental challenges. However, hundreds of published reports from scientists, engineers, physicians and environmentalists refute exaggerated and misleading claims by the wind industry that industrial wind technology will be either effective or good for the economy. Furthermore the risks to human health, safety and quality of life far outweigh the small amount of unreliable energy and negligible CO2 savings that are claimed.
Wind Concerns Ontario is a province-wide coalition which promotes awareness of the true impacts of industrial wind power facilities on our health, environment, economy and quality of life.
Wind Concerns Ontario provides a strong, unified voice of opposition to the unchecked rush to locate over six hundred forty massive industrial wind turbines across the province in the last 5 years without the benefit of full environmental assessment. Plans to locate thousands more at an accelerated schedule, with even less oversight are tearing apart the very fabric of rural Ontario. Along with their transformers, transmission lines, overhead distribution wires and substations these industrial wind turbines threaten people and the environment in serene, historic, rural communities, on prime agricultural land, migratory bird paths, close to sensitive wetlands, designated wildlife areas and pristine shorelines.
Wind Concerns Ontario is in favour of environmentally sound solutions to our energy demands and environmental challenges. However hundreds of published reports from scientists, engineers, physicians and environmentalists refute misleading claims by wind power developers that industrial wind technology will be either effective or harmless.
Wind Concerns Ontario is committed to informing the people of Ontario as to the whole truth about industrial wind power.
Wind Concerns Ontario: 5 Key Points
Health & Safety
- Reassessment of government minimum noise guidelines : (rural acoustic environment level) Class 3
- No less than 2km of distance between industrial wind power plants, industrial wind turbines and transformer stations and residences, hospitals, schools and communities in general.
- Comprehensive, independent study of health complaints such as vibro-acoustic disease, light flicker, stray voltage, ice throw, noise radiation.
- Comprehensive study of “Wind Turbine Syndrome”
Information & Explanation
- Inform public that wind will not replace standard forms of electricity generation but needs backup power from those standard forms
- Inform about wind power limitations, inefficiency, intermittency and cost
- Promote lower-impact alternatives ie. solar, geothermal, biomass, conservation
- No exemption from Environmental Assessment Act for wind power plants above 2 MW installed capacity Bill 51
- Demand transparency in developer-municipal government relations (Citizens oversight group)
- Promote energy efficiency tax incentives for residential, commercial and institutional building owners
Heritage & Culture
- • Protect and preserve rural towns and villages, prime agricultural land, sensitive wetlands, designated wildlife areas,pristine shorelines and migratory bird paths from industrialized elements 400-500ft turbines, transformers, transmission towers, and wires and substations
- Protect and preserve historic building and cultural heritage landscapes from ravages of construction phase.
- Protect cherished views for residents, visitors and future generations
- Protect lands from potential destruction of undiscovered artifacts by turbine installation process
Natural Environment
- Exclude migratory bird paths areas from wind power plant development
- Exclude wildlife habitats from wind power plant development infrastructure
- Ban disruption of endangered wetlands through installation of wind project infrastructure
- Protect non-industrialized shoreline from industrial wind power plants
Socio-Economic
- Protect the character and charm of established rural towns, villages and countryside
- Adhere to economic plan of area of proposal and tenets held therein
- Preserve economic vitality as developed through investment by both government and private enterprise
- Protect from disruption in attractiveness of area for recreational activity due to transformation away from natural scenic beauty
- Protect property values of residential, commercial, recreational and agricultural real estate
Download Our 1-Page Summary: Why We Need To Be Cautious
Bravo to Wind Concerns Ontario for standing up to the greedy, inconsiderate knuckleheads in the wind industry, government and know-it-all “environmental” groups.
Up until now, the CanWEA mob has been slyly picking off rural communities one by one with slick backroom deals, invasionary ruses, bribes (leases) and propaganda. Not any more!
By: Notsogullible on December 5, 2008
at 12:49 am
Attended a Federation of Anglers & Hunters meeting near the Bruce Nuke plant last weekend. The community centre where we met is in the middle of a bunch of wind turbines. A few years ago I thought they were “neat.” Now they are just visual pollution.
They are ugly. I have not researched their good and bad points, but it does seem there wil be more of these un-natural visual disturbances on our beautiful landscape.
Cheers from the woods !!
Stu Paterson – Georgian Bluffs
By: stu paterson on January 18, 2009
at 2:48 pm
the only effective response is legal now. look into laws around trespassing and consider lawsuits.
By: tai lee on February 22, 2009
at 2:35 am
Some of us are fighting wind power here in manitoba… But we are a minority because everybody thinks they’re Neat and the government has done a good snow job on them… Our second wind farm is going to be set in prime ag land but hopefully it is in jepordy because harper cut the funding to them in the new budget(only a grant of 80 to 100 million for its lifetime) Thats a real profitable venture….. I hear your provincial gov is forcing it down your throat also… Good luck fighting them
By: Bryan on February 26, 2009
at 6:06 pm
We are opposed to a mega 393 single cycle gas fired power plant being forced onto the farmers in Ontario’s Greenbelt the Holland Marsh.
By: Debbie on May 10, 2009
at 3:38 am
Your website has been a source of information to help those who are looking for real answers. Keep up the good work. People need access to information that helps them understand that the doubts they have are real. No one should feel guilty about questioning industrial wind. What needs to be better understood is that regardless of how big the turbines get, the ability to produce meaningful energy for consumers is not much improved. All that is improved is the ability of the larger turbines to produce a more variable amount of power that we have to pay for. To understand the limits of industrial wind power to provide useful energy there needs to be an understanding of how our grid system works. The grid must be maintained by energy at all times. Drops in voltage or increases in voltage can cause the grid to fail. The amount of energy that is used by consumers at a point in time must be pre-estimated by grid operators. These operators must have access to a power source ready to meet what they know will be the demand for that moment in time. They cannot depend on power from industrial wind turbines as there is no way to know what will be available at any specific time in the future. It would seem that if wind goes on line there would be a reduced requirement of energy from other sources. If grid operators could just shut off other energy sources it may appear to work but it is not that simple. To keep the grid stable operators must know they have power available. They must prearrange by buying a block of power to be delivered from a reliable source at a specific time (remember they cannot be sure how much they will get from wind if anything). If the power they have prearranged and paid for gets used we get our money’s worth. If it is not used due to wind coming on line, we have just paid for reliable power that was not used. The fact is we pay twice when wind goes on line, once for the cheaper prepaid reliable power and once for the more expensive, after the fact, post paid, wind power. So the question we should be asking is “Why are we building industrial wind turbines?”
By: Zen2then on July 15, 2009
at 4:46 am
I am very impressed that you all CAN stand up to all the governmental preasures and back handed profit makers! I support a healthy environment and I LOVE my adopted land and place to live, freely and unemcumbered. We all have to learn much more to take care of the land and most of all people, by SAVING ELECTRICITY !!!
Gisela & Juergen
By: Gisela & Juergen Rust on October 20, 2009
at 12:10 pm