This is an open invitation to anyone and everyone who wants to learn about the impacts of placing these turbines in Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. 165 of them are slated to be dropped into Lake St. Clair alone. About 600 more are going to adorn the shoreline of Lake Erie between Colchester and Wheatly.
Wind power is a great source of alternate energy without question but this is not the place to plant such massive wind farms. The main reason energy companies are going this route is so that they will not have to pay royalties to land owners as they have been doing in other parts of Essex and Kent Counties. It's about larger profits but to the detriment of every citizen. Every scenic vista of the lake is going to be killed and there is no way to get that back. At night, the horizon over the lake will be a mess of aircraft warning strobes flashing away. Sailboats with tall masts may be in peril if they get too close to these things. Sail regattas will be messed up for navigational way points. Tourism will be affected. There are hundreds of impacts.
We all have our opinions about alternative energy but we don't necessarily understand the local impacts. This is a very important issue for all of us and the government is mandating to ram this one down our collective gullet without giving us a say. Sure...They are going through the mandatory steps of having so called public information meetings but get this: They are holding several of them to cover all affected communities on the same day. A whirl-wind tour to get it over with! That process starts in one week.
The M.O.M. is looking for your help. Everyone should at least grab a friend or two and go to this meeting for starters. Everybody. Beachgoers, boaters, bikers, eco hippies, fishermen, bloggers and blog readers. This is important! No matter what your position is on alternative energy and wind turbines there is knowledge to be gained here. This is all going to be happening very fast starting this weekend. If we do not let our governments know how we stand asap these turbines are going to be planted within the next few months. There will be no turning back after that. Lakes St. Clair and Erie are going to look like a continuous loop of a bad scene in Eraser Head.
Remember...There is a better way.
Background:
http://www.windsorstar.com/business/Battle+lines+drawn+lake+turbine+issue/2674844/story.html
http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2010/02/20/public-meetings-in-ontario-southpoint-wind/
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139279.html
http://www.aweo.org/ProblemWithWind.html
Background:
http://www.windsorstar.com/business/Battle+lines+drawn+lake+turbine+issue/2674844/story.html
http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2010/02/20/public-meetings-in-ontario-southpoint-wind/
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139279.html
http://www.aweo.org/ProblemWithWind.html
14 comments:
Agreed. Green Power is good but not at the expense of our Great Lakes.
nimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimbynimby!!!!!!!
Hey Nimby. Or should we call you NUMBY?
Unless you do not live anywhere in Essex County you are talking about YOUR own back yard. Or maybe you just learned a new acronym and want to flog it to death with your un-intelligence. As the mom says, these things can easily moved to the farm fields that run parallel to the lake. Same end effect only some people will benefit by getting compensation from the energy barons. YOU are a prime candidate for this meeting. Gom learn something and channel some of your own energy in the right direction.
They will drive up energy bills and taxes, they don't help climate change and they don't bring energy independence or give us the power we need. Why build in the beautiful lakes apart from making energy companies and politicians look good to the media and idiots?
This has more to do with creating jobs and appearing green (while shovelling money to their pals) than it does with either climate change or energy independence. It is having the reverse effect. Most of all, this all represents a blurring of the lines between government, corporations and lobby groups.
Everybody wins except the people paying for it and they're the ones who will end up with high taxes, high energy bills and electricity rationing in an age where there should be abundant cheap energy for all. Meanwhile, no new nuclear plants are set to come online because of a political lack of will and a lack of investment capital. The whole thing is a mess.
Well said anonymous. Problem is that they are going to install these things regardless. It's up to the public now to convince the powers that be that they can still have their wind mills; just not in the lakes. To the nimby anonymous. Mr. B is right except for one thing. Surrounding Essex County with wind mills; that is, lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair effectively puts them in our back and front yards. No optional view.
I wish that the meeting was not the same night as council is voting to grant extensions to themselves to collect Shylock interest rates (19.56% & higher) from Windsor homeowners who are falling behind on their taxes.
the first offshore wind farm was built in 1991. if you are so concerned about the worlds sailboats being in great peril... where have you been the last 20 years? the post only mentions the lakes erie and stclair.
i called a nimby a nimby. i said nothing regarding the pros/cons of wind farms.
Anonymous NUMBY. This is happening in your backyard that's why. Essex county is where YOU live. Sailboats are only a miniscule part of the equation. How about finding any beach where these things will not spoil the view of these precious lakes? How about the impediment to local tourism? Are you new?
i repeat... i am neither for or against. look at the definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimby . funny how people are.
Thanks for posting. Very informative. Very frightening. The government should not be allowed to do this to our lakes. Once it's done, there will be no going back - we will be stuck with these unsightly things forever. What a way to destroy the tranquility of our lakes. This is not progress.
We own a cottage on Lake St. Clair, but are from the States. I hope you don't mind, but I've sent your article to all news media in Detroit, State DNR, MI boating association, Ducks unlimited ans BASS. We need to present as much opposition as possible.
This is a reckless use of natural resources. The possible harm done to the lakes habitats for both fish and foul, and human drinking water from the distruction due to construction has to be measured.
The pricetag is much higher than just cost per kilowatt.
Hi MoM
Interesting reading on a serious topic but I've learned to know the source of any information I use in forming my opinions. Care to tell us a bit about yourself and your connection to the renewables industry. It would be great if you could give your name and what region you currently live in. Hard enough to trust any information these days let alone when it comes from an anonymous source.
(If I didn't come across your identity somewhere in your blog then please accept my apology.
Brian Robinson
Wallaceburg Ontario
construction worker in the renewables market in Ontario.
Please don't throw the people living inland under the bus by saying that turbines don't belong in the lakes but are OK inland. These useless pieces of crap do not belong anywhere. There is no economic, scientific, or ecological reason for them. People inland are already suffering due to turbines currently functioning... please show proper concern. No turbines anywhere!
Sorry...
The more I learn about these things, the more I see how unwanted they are. My presumption was that land based locations are at the discretion of the individual land owners. Each receiving a royalty for having them on their property. The real happy medium to me is to install them along the 401 corridor where there is plenty of wind and very few residents. Wind factories in the lakes serve as nothing but a billboard for McGuinty's "green" pangs.
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