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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-03-04, Page 7Win.d To the Editor; I'd like to respond to the series of letters from Mr. Brand, advocating commercial wind turbines. I have no doubt the author of these letters has good intentions. That said, it would be wonderful if he would take the time to do some research, attend some public meetings, and lose some of the sarcasm he has for those who oppose development at this point. Then I think he could contribute something more construc- tive to what I believe is one of the most important issues this county is facing. Electricity for our household has been provided solely by solar and wind for 18 years. I've advocated energy conservation, and the possible benefits of wind power for this area vocally for quite some time, but the development model we're using for most of the commercial wind turbines in Ontario is a lousy one. Warden Ken Oke is absolutely correct in advocating a temporary freeze until the province does its homework. There are enough alarm bells going off in this prov- ince and elsewhere. As it stands right now, communities that get commercial turbines of significant number (plans for Central Huron at one point had 126 turbines in 10 sq miles), will see legitimate health and annoyance issues, a lowering of some peoples property values, little or negative tax benefit for municipalities, and about four per cent of the turbine revenues dis- tributed amongst the smallest number of land owners the developer can feasibly • • on Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - Page 7 an important issue for county opinion work with. Add to that a handful of main- tenance and public relations jobs, and you have the total benefit the community will likely see for the next 40 years. Unfortunately there will be no measur- able improvement in health, air quality or grid stability for people in this area, either. Spending our money on the conservation side and improving the grid efficiency will have a far greater net benefit at this point. Mr. Brand stated in a past letter 'previ- ous councils have looked at this issue, we don't have to.' I suggest that if you put this kind of wind development in front of councils in Europe that have dealt with this issue and legitimately tried to reduce their impact on the environment, they would say "why would we do it like this?" I still believe that if we take the time to • get this right, with reasonable set- backs, better revenue sharing and per- haps even ownership by landowners we will in the long run make much bet- ter use of this renewable resource, and provide something of real benefit for future generations. Sincerely, Robert Budd Goderich Writer recalls Snug Harbour's famous swimming chickens To the Editor; When I read about the upcoming changes at the waterfront and what will be the demise of Snug Harbour it brought back fond memories of the beach and the harbour as it was when I was a girl (a very long time ago!) We sometimes swam across the har- bour and spent some time on the other side and around Snug Harbour. Albert Leonard kept some chickens over there and they would swim in Snug. It was quite weird and wonderful to see chick- ens doing something so out of character. I wondered how many oldsters around town would remember those famous swimming chickens? Shirley Huckins Goderich And you think you have economic troubles ... And you're womed about your money woes in these tough economic times?!? Think again, and have a look at the head- lines. "Police Nab Trouseriess Crook." You almost feel like letting a guy keep the loot if he can't afford pants for the robbery. A 21 -year-old has been arrested by police try- ing their best not to look, near . Cologne, Germany. "Plumber Steels Plumbing." A licensed plumber in Pennsylvania used his training skills to remove brass and chrome -plated pipes from restaurants and then sold them as scrap metal. "Soldier Steels Tahk Twice." Today's automobiles are so unappealing, a man in Germany stole a tank to go on a joy ride. An 18 -year-old British soldier has been charged near Bergen, Germany. And you have to believe the economy is approaching 'flush. mode' when the Girl Guides need a prinks guard to help them get their money out of the mall. On Wednesday, February 19,"two third graders were packing up their cookie stand outside a Walgreens store in San Antonio, Texas when they were robbed. "We were finishing up our shift and we were packing up our cookies," explained the Girl Guide troop leader. I was shocked when I read this. Like Jehovah Witnesses, I always thought Girl Guides worked door-to-door. As soon as • • NAFTA officials find out about that, the lobs of the Girl Guides will also be moving to Mexico. The thief, pretending to look over the cookie merchandise suddenly snatched their bag of money, ran to a waiting car and drove off with $250. The two nine -year-olds, shaken but tinde- terred, will continue to sell cook- ies for the Girl Guides. Police, with license plate number and surveillance video, are expected to make an arrest. But when robbers are targeting Girl Guides instead of banks, you know the economy is in serious trouble. Lately I've noticed more people walking into town than driving, fewer people in restaurants and two guys keep rifling through my blue box to retrieve the bottles that carry refunds. Here then are other sure signs the econo- my is on life support: • you've started taking notes while watch- ing Survival. • you wished you hadn't named the gold- fish because that would make them easier to batter. • yesterday the Fedex guy delivered your discount drugs in a wheelbarrow, • DaimlerChrysler is replacing their PT Cruiser with the new energy-efficient hybrid Chapter 11. • the price of gasoline dropped to 80 cents a litre the day after they repos- sessed your car. • at your 30 -year -employment awards ceremony you received a T-shirt that said: "Nothing Runs Out Of Town Like A Deere." • the guy in the Air Cadet uni- form selling support buttons in front of the boarded -up travel agency looks an awful lot like the guy who used to own the travel agency. • Warren Buffett's newletter advises you to cash in all your bonus and mutual funds and invest the money in a real sleeper. Your mattress. • you've noticed the government failed in its war on poverty but they've succeeded in finding a cure for wealth. • you're driving past a GM dealership when you notice a sign that says: "We're A Non -Profit Organization." (We just didn't plan it that way.) • you keep hiding leftovers in the garage so the dog doesn't find out about the doggie bag. • you figured out you can survive this depression by eliminating a few things every month ... like the first two weeks. • you think President Obama should pay for all the bailouts by making economic incompetence taxable. • on your way back from" Florida you spotted Alex Rodrigues at an intersection in Ft. Lauderdale with a sign that reads: "Will Work For Steroids." • last Saturday when the stock markets were closed, experts referred to it as a "rally." • your bank manager has scrapped your previous retirement plan of "Freedom Fifty - Five" with a new one known as "Lottery 649." • you get a flyer in the mail announcing that blue boxes are now accepting lunch buckets. • the guy who used to wash windows downtown is now offering a $9.99 Preservative Spray for all boarded -up sheets of plywood. • the best silver -lining line you could come up with is: "Poverty is inexpensive." • you swear every detector in the house went off the day your savings went up in smoke. • the last time you ordered take-out Chinese food it came with free misfortune cookies. • the Toronto Maple Leafs announce they will miss the playoffs on purpose this year to avoid the high costs of operating the Air Canada Centre through what could be a lengthy playoff season. And finally, you know the economy is in trouble when Girl Guides are hiring Boy Scouts for protection but the Boy Scouts refuse to leave their camp until they get their bail-out money.