Huron Expositor, 2009-05-27, Page 4Page 4 May 27, 2009 • The Huron Expositor
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK IWO
Wind turbine health
enc -ems need study
Using
Using renewable resources, like wind power, has
almost become a motherhood issue during the past
couple of years when fears about climate change
have reached a fever pitch.
So; it's no wonder that those unfortunate rural
residents living close to wind turbines who began
to suffer from a number of symptoms like sleep de-
privation, headaches and heart palpitations were
initially regarded as cranks and NIMBYs.
But, with a growing number of communities
throughout Ontario experiencing the same types of
health problems near an ever-expanding number of
wind projects Wind Concerns Ontario now has 29
citizens' groups from 19 different districts - it's clear
that there are some important questions that still
need to be answered about wind power.
Residents of the St. Columban area - calling them-
selves Huron East Against Turbines - have become
the newest members of Wind Concerns Ontario as
they submitted a 140 -name petition to Huron East
council asking for a moratorium on the two wind
projects being planned for the area.
But, whether or not the municipality will have
any power over the situation will be determined by
what they learn about the recently -passed Green
Energy Act, whose most controversial aspects take
away the powers of local governments to object to
new wind turbine projects.
After surveying people who live near wind tur-
bines, Dr. Robert McMurtry, a former dean of medi-
cine at the University of Western Ontario, told the
province recently that more wind turbines should
not be built until rigorous epidemiological studies
are done to get a definitive answer on the turbines'
impact on human health.
And, the issues of a proper setback - Energy Min-
ister George Smitherman is quoted as supporting
setbacks as close as 400 metres while the World
Health Organization supports a distance of 1.5 km
- seem far from resolved.
With the vast tracts of unsettled land in Canada,
it seems hardly fair to expect rural residents to suf-
fer the effects of low frequency noise from turbines
in their backyards when the power goes into a grid
that feeds the urban areas' insatiable appetite for
energy:
While wind power might still prove to be an ef-
fective way of reducing • greenhouse gases, it seems
only logical to proceed with a plan that creates no
further harm in the race to counteract global warm-
ing.
Susan Hundertmark
A good dose of fear might be an
essential part of street proofing kids
Parents everywhere hugged
their kids just a little bit closer
last week when the ' horrific
and tragic newsbroke that two
people had been charged with
the abduction and . murder of
an innocent little eight-year-
old girl.
My heart goes out to Tara
McDonald and Rodney Stafford, who are living
every parent's worst nightmare after learning
their sweet daughter Tori became the prey of
child predators. s
While it's still up for debate whether an Am-
ber Alert issued immediately by police would
have created the right circumstances to allow
TI ri to be returned home unharmed, the trag-
edy of one more child being killed by twisted
perverts can't help but evoke a rush of fear
about the safety of our kids.
Maybe because it's a fear that's generations
old but children - and particularly girls -. have
always been this vulnerable.
I remember being 10 and walking home
from a friend's house at dusk, long after the
end of the schoolday rush was over, worrying
that every car that passed could contain some
predatory stranger.
As a woman, it's a fear that never really
leaves you completely. As a mother, it's a fear
that's always creeping around at the back of
your mind, especially when your child dawdles
on the way home from school and doesn't make
it home at the usual time. And, it's a fear that
keeps your watch all the more vigilant on your
daughter in a crowded place.
on &
e
I've decided
to become a
vegetarian.
1 Our class went to a
farm yesterday and
we saw all the animals.
Susan
Hundertmark
To me, one of the most chilling
aspects of the whole case was
the assumption by police that
because Tori seemed to accom-
pany a woman in a white puffy
coat "willingly" on surveillance
video, she was classified initial-
ly as a missing person and not
as abducted. Police seemed so
certain she was safe somewhere during that
first week she went missing even though facts
now being revealed seem to indicate the little
girl was killed the same day she was abduct-
ed.
No matter how much time is spent on street
proofing children, kids can be either too trust-
ing, too gullible or too scared to fight back the
way we'd hope they would when they're in
danger.
But, short of training our kids in martial
arts self defence classes from the time they're
toddlers and treating every friend, neighbour
and family member like a potential danger, it's
tough to know what the answer is.
We live in a world where child pornography
has never been so accessible. And, we're ar-
guably one of the most fearful cultures ever
- we're constantly on the lookout for terrorists
and our kids train regularly at school to hide
from shooters.
And, while there's a part of me that says chil-
dren, should not have to live daily with that
sort of fear, perhaps it's a good dose of fear
that continues to be an essential part of street
proofing.
I couldn't imagine
eating meat after
that. It's so gross!
Do you realize that
now you'll have to
eat vegetables, like
spinach, and broccoli?
by bavid Lacey
I'll have a double
cheeseburger please.
' ...an once
again the morn
high ground is
lost to a juicy
cheeseburger
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