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Lakeshore Advance, 2012-05-23, Page 9Wednesda , June 1, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 5 opinion www.lakeshoreadvance.com letters to the editor Industrial windfarm facts for the uninformed Do Industrial Wind banns add to the overall capacity of our basic system to generate electricity in our province? The answer is no. Since their output is inconsistent and depends on weather conditions there must always he enough reli- able back up generation capacity to supply the maximum require- ments of the grid. This can only he accomplished presently with nuclear, hydro electric, gas tired or coal. You cannot replace the standard traditional reliable sources with wind or solar. An example would be when we typically have our peak electricity demand with the grid at capacity on a hot humid summer day with no breeze the wind turbines are useless, Wind farms are decentralized and are generally situated far from the large urban teas that require their output. This geo- graphic dispersion will r'eiuir' Ontario utilities to invest signal cantly in building new distribu- tion lines to connect these wind farms to the electricity grid, Why are subsidies given to wind farm developers to install and run these systems? At present them is no way that the cost of installing and operat- ing an industrial wind turbine can compete with any conven- tional source of producing elec- tricity. A powerful global indus- try has developed to satisfy the demand for wind turbines based on receiving huge amounts of subsidies from governments. 1 believe that if the subsidies dis- appeared the industry would collapse. Ontario is offering contracts guaranteeing profit to wind farm developers for 20 years. Many of these are foreign controlled tom.. panics who mask their opera tions by creating Canadian offices. 'they are attracted to our sub- sidy guarantees which provide them with long terns profit. Are there real health related issues due to proximity of industrial wind turbines? 'there seems to he manly more than just a few complaints of health problems with residents close to wind turbine installa- tions. Also some very learned medical experts have major con- cerns about this issue and have requested the Ontario govern- ment to conduct proper peer reviewed studies on the effects of turbine noise on the health of these people. 1 ami disappointed in the Mt'(;Utnty governnent's response to their concerns whereby they either dismiss or try to discredit any opposing points of view and reply with only opinionated rhet- oric or prifessional experts who have a vested interest in support- ing the government position. Why are some municipal councils objecting to the prov- ince's Green Energy Act? 'Ihe Green Energy Act appar- ently is all powerfiul acid removes This little brother wants a Big Brother This Little Brother is 6 years old. He is excited to get a Big Brother and thinks that it will be lots of fun. He would like a Big Brother who likes to play Marvel (Iron Man, Spider Man, Hulk, etc,) and who likes to go to the park and to the library. He would like to learn to play soccer and to =o mLittle Bother is one of the mail children welting to be matched within a mentoring friend- ship. if you are una- ble to commit to being a Big, con- sider our In -School Mentoring prFoorn For information on becoming a Big or our other volun- teer programs, call our office at 519- 237-3664, e-mail us at cweshbbbs, on.ca or visit our web -site at www,shbbM.on,ca the right of municipalities told lower tier governments to have any control over the installation of industrial wind turbines in their jurisdictions or protect the rights of their constituents who challenge and have grievance's. This appears to the to be dicta- torial and a recipe for poor inter- governmental relationships. How big is the opposition in Ontario to the McGuinty gov- ernment's policies and actions on this issue? It is stated that there are pres- ently 57 grass roots citizen groups in Ontario who are actively chal- lenging the government on industrial wind farms. Some of these groups are extremely well organized and represent thou- sands of citizens whose only interests are to protect their way of life, their health and promote an energy policy that is realistic and cost effective. l Iowever l acknowledge that there are some farm owners who are happy to collect approxi- mately $10,000.00 per year for each wind turbine o11 their land. it is also stated that there are 76 municipal councils who have taken some form of action per- taining to 'Ihe Green Energy Act and the installations of wind farms in their area. 'elle website for 'Wind Con- cerns Ontario' is but one example of massive amounts of informa- tion from everywhere covering problems and concerns on this issue. It is almost impossible to digest all of it but it does indicate that Ontario residents are not the only ones in this world who are skeptical of being so strongly committed to wind power being the answer to energy problems. Should people living in the big cities be concerned about these wind farms in rural Ontario? If the installations are not in your back yard it is easy to be complacent and buy into the sales pitch from Ontario's mar- keting and advertising cam- paigns feeling that we are being environmentally responsible. 1 Iowever, they should take the time to look deeper into the issue and question whether both eco- nomic and environmental objec- tives have any real chance of success. 'they will be paying the lion's share of the costs which always conte back to the electricity rate- payer. l suggest that when the electric bills keep rising and the indirect taxes and costs find their way into their pocket hook they have to be asking 'Did we get any real worthwhile value for our dol- lars on this issue?" Should we be concerned that the rural landscape will be altered? 'this comes down to your point of view but there is no doubt that our pastoral rural views will be altered indefinitely. The new huge wind turbines packed into our agricultural counties will be impossible to ignore and will over shadow (mother nature to say the least. In many cases they use up some of the hest food pro- ducing farm land in Ontario. It is sad to see the controversy and passionate opposing views splitting friendships and rural communities. This is a side effect that cannot be easily measured but is not healthy for our province. Opinion: 1 suggest that industrial wind farms supply electric power to the grid generally when we don't need it at very high cost to the ratepayer. The overall benefit to the global environment is mini- mal at best. The only benefit to our society is to those who get the subsidy dollars that we col- lectively pay for. I feel that the McGuinty gov- ernment's push for industrial wind farms may be misguided. Wind turbine technology is old and has limited room for improvetnent so 1 believe that the large amount of resources that are being directly and indirectly committed to this venture would have better long terns benefit if they were targeted to research and development of new tech- nology in alternative fuel sources that are reliable and have the potential to he cost effective. This issue will he a major player in the provincial election in the fall of 2011. Roy Merkley, Grand Bend 33 days until graduation at Stephen Stephen Central By Katie Becker & Chelsea Vincent Hello again! School 1s ending very soon, and kids are getting very excited about summer. We hear kids talking about their sum- mer plans almost everyday! Last Tuesday, our school had our annual Hoops For Heart/Jump Rope Fdr Heart to support the research of 'The Stroke and Heart Foundation: Last Wednesday, our grade 8s went to the South Huron District High School for Welcome to the Jungle day, where they got to meet new friends and the peo- ple they are going to be attending school with next year. We got to discover classrooms, opportu- nities for them and It was a great adventure! Also last Friday our athletes went to South Huron Dis- trict High School to compete in their track & field events against other competing schools. From May 30th to Jure 10th our grade 3 and 6 students have EQAO testing where they will be tested in language and mathemat- ics! GOOD LUCK STUDENTS! With 33 days until graduation our students are preparing their out- fits, getting their hairdresser appointments booked and creat- ing their guest Hsts! Our grade 6s cannot believe that it is finally almost here and they are very excited! Talk to you next week! :) Enjoy the nice weather and be safe everyone!