Wind Concerns Ontario: Auditor Generals report shows opponents correct about turbines

TORONTO

The Ontario Auditor-General’s report released last week was a blistering assessment of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s rush to cover Ontario with industrial scale renewable energy projects, according to Wind Concerns Ontario.

The group has been asking the government to slow down on turbines for several years now.

It released a statement that cited the report that states the projects were approved at the expense of Ontario property owners, taxpayers and small business with insufficient oversight, and no cost benefit analysis conducted.

“This is exactly what we’ve been saying for years,” said Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson. “The Green Energy and Green Economy Act is a severely flawed document, unsupported by analysis or need. The act is heavily influenced by the wind industry that reaps profits from our hard earned tax dollars.”

Reports of illness from environmental noise produced by industrial wind turbines continue to be dismissed by the Ontario Liberal government. However Auditor-General Jim McCarter noted that the government’s report is “merely” a literature review by Dr Arlene King that “presented no original research and did not reflect the situation in Ontario.”

Minister of Energy Chris Bentley’s response was, “The ministry will continue to rely on the Chief Medical Officer of Health to provide objective advice on the potential health impacts of renewable energy generators.”

“Wind Concerns Ontario is not satisfied with those remarks by our government. We want to know when [Medical Officer of Health] King will update her literature review on adverse health effects of wind turbines with the newest up to date research.”

Wilson, who is a registered nurse, added, “Ignoring the health issues is unconscionable and indefensible.,”

The  report also stated there have been no results from a research committee established two years ago, and recommends “objective” research on the potential effects of industrial wind power generation.

McCarter’s report failed to explore the effects of higher electricity bills, which will rise 46 per cent up to 2014. “Anyone living on fixed income is in danger of being driven into energy poverty, a term used when your heating and electricity bills exceed 10 per cent of disposable income,” said Parker Gallant, a retired international banker and Wind Concerns Ontario board member.

The WCO called on the minority government of Dalton McGuinty to follow the lead of many other jurisdictions and immediately and drastically reduce the premium pricing paid to the wind industry for an intermittent supply of electricity that Ontario does not need at this time.

 

 

December 16, 2011