http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/24156 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:16:07 GMT The Selinger government is considering a bailout deal to rescue the financially floundering wind farm slated to be built near St. Joseph. Following some pointed questions from Tory MLA Cliff Graydon during a committee hearing late Tuesday night, Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk acknowledged Pattern Energy has approached the government for funding and that the province is considering it. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24156 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23884 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:11:46 GMT The Ontario government's multi-billion-dollar wind turbine deal with South Korean industrial giant Samsung Group is in jeopardy after a power play in Premier Dalton McGuinty's cabinet, the Toronto Star has learned. Sources say rival ministers opposed to Deputy Premier George Smitherman's pet scheme, which they fear will mean "billions" of dollars in subsidies to Samsung, have convinced McGuinty to stall the landmark deal first reported in the Star on Sept. 27. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23884 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23897 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:10:26 GMT Local wind farm opponents vowed yesterday to keep pushing for independent studies into the effects wind turbines have on people. Ontario legislators rejected Bruce- Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch's call to halt industrial wind farm development until the province's top doctor can assure the government turbines don't harm people living nearby. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23897 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23783 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:05:30 GMT Ontario's natural resources ministry has been so overwhelmed with applications to develop offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes that it has stopped accepting them - at least until March. Minister Donna Cansfield, speaking at a conference in Toronto, said more than 100 applications have been received representing more than 500 projects on the Ontario side of the lakes. "The window for applications has been temporarily closed," she said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23783 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23739 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:04:05 GMT Nova Scotia's electricity consumer advocate is questioning Nova Scotia Power's proposal to spend $120 million on a wind farm. "Is it a good deal?" asks Halifax lawyer John Merrick. "Because ultimately it has to be paid for by ratepayers." The power company has applied to government regulators for permission to build and develop a 22-turbine wind farm at Nuttby Mountain, Colchester County. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23739 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23710 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:47:30 GMT A Prince Edward County man is going to court over Ontario's new setback rules for industrial wind farms. Lawyer Eric Gillespie, acting on behalf of client Ian Hanna, a resident of Big Island, has launched the first legal challenge to the Ontario government's Green Energy Act which requires wind turbines be located a minimum 550 metres from homes. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23710 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23708 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:06:41 GMT Nova Scotians may face higher electricity costs in the short term as the province moves toward cleaner and renewable energy, says the man in charge of overseeing Nova Scotia's renewable energy strategy. Dalhousie University's David Wheeler said Monday it is inevitable Nova Scotia Power customers will face a jump in prices ..."If we end up with a global carbon energy tax, then producing energy from coal is going to be very expensive for Nova Scotia consumers," Mr. Wheeler told reporters. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23708 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23707 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:04:54 GMT Ian Hanna said his application for judicial review, being called the first of its kind, is his latest appeal to the government after petitions failed to stop plans for five turbines about 900 metres away from his property on Big Island in the Bay of Quinte. The community of about 100 homes will be overwhelmed by the turbines, he charged. "My parents taught us when we were growing up that we should stand up for what we thought is good and right and whether that's for my family or for my neighbours, I intend to do that," he said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23707 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23701 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:19:04 GMT "The Green Energy Act, 2009 and its regulations clearly do not appear to meet the requirements of law in the province of Ontario," said lawyer Eric Gillespie today in a news conference at Queen's Park. On behalf of his client Ian Hanna, Gillespie explained that a court application was filed earlier today for judicial review of the Green Energy Act, 2009 based on the Precautionary Principle as it applies to industrial wind turbine installations. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23701 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23635 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:51:26 GMT Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch is calling for a province-wide moratorium on wind turbine projects and is introducing a resolution at Queen's Park later this month. Through his resolution, which he expects to be debated on Oct. 29, Mr. Murdoch will call on the province and its chief medical doctor to state whether or not wind turbines cause health problems for people who live near them. Mr. Murdoch said the government has a responsibility as well as a mandate to investigate such claims. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23635 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23634 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:46:40 GMT Wind farm opponents plan to gather at Queen's Park this month to pressure provincial politicians to support MPP Bill Murdoch's bid to halt further turbine projects until Ontario investigates alleged health effects. "This might be our chance to make a statement," Georgian Bluffs resident Wendy McKee told a crowd during a community meeting on wind turbines and health. She said she will try to reserve a bus to transport concerned Grey-Bruce residents to Toronto for the Oct. 29 vote. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23634 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23624 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:06:36 GMT Recently, Innisfil council sent a letter to the provincial government, expressing concerns over the regulations. The letter encouraged the province to accept recommendations from the town's Innisfil Alternative Energy Ad Hoc Committee, which call for changes to setbacks for renewable energy projects, clean-up requirements and other aspects of the Act. The Act also gives jurisdiction over project approvals to the province, said Jackson. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23624 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23570 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:04:18 GMT For Ontario to blow $1 billion over seven years not delivering on electronic health (eHealth) records, as Auditor General Jim McCarter documented last week, is frightening. But here's something just as scary. Everything that went wrong with eHealth can just as easily go wrong with Premier Dalton McGuinty's similarly half-baked plan to make us a "renewable" energy giant. Right down to the fact the same cabinet minister in charge when most of the damage was done at eHealth, is now in charge of renewable energy. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23570 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23552 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:50:50 GMT Green energy is the only option for ending Ontario's reliance on coal plants, a spokeswoman for Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman said yesterday. While there may be unanswered health questions related to industrial wind turbines, there's no doubt about health risks associated with coal burning power plants, Smitherman's press secretary Amy Tang said. "We have to remember why we entered into renewable energy in the first place, which was our commitment to get off coal," she said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23552 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23521 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:46:59 GMT Mounting questions about how wind turbines affect people's health justify MPP Bill Murdoch's new call for a provincial moratorium, the region's top doctor said yesterday. "To me this is a real welcome move," said Dr. Hazel Lynn, the Grey Bruce medical officer of health. "When there's as much upset as there is, I think the politicians should be paying attention to it." Murdoch, the Conservative MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, said late yesterday he will introduce a resolution Oct. 29. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23521 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23530 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:33:46 GMT Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch said he would call for a province-side moratorium on wind turbine projects later this month. Murdoch expects his resolution to be debated on Oct. 29 at Queen's Park. ...Murdoch said the Liberal government moved very quickly with the Green Energy agenda, that Bill 150 was passed into law within a short time, and as a result very many things got overlooked. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23530 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23510 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:24:35 GMT Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch announced yesterday he will call for a provincewide moratorium on wind turbine projects later this month. Murdoch said in a news release yesterday he will introduce a resolution, which he expects to be debated on Oct. 29, that calls on the province and its chief medical doctor to state whether or not wind turbines cause health problems for people who live near them. Murdoch said the government has a responsibility as well as a mandate to investigate such claims. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23510 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23445 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:51:40 GMT When the wind blows, a massive amount of power flows to the grid and "any time you get that amount of power into the auction system of the power pool, it's going to crush price," said Rob Falconer, director of distributed generation for the utility. The push to buy carbon offsets in a carbon-constrained world plays a strong role in developers' estimating profit margins, but existing uncertainty over prices makes the debate over sinking billions of dollars into extensive transmission projects even more relevant, he said. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23445 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23425 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:48:59 GMT It's too late to stop the surge of wind-farm development in Ontario, even by arguing the turbines cause illness, says Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch. "As far as what they can do about it, there really isn't a heck of a lot," he said yesterday. ...Emotions ran high at Thursday's public meeting, which the health unit organized to provide wind turbine information to residents. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23425 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23423 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:35:50 GMT Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. acknowledged yesterday that it does not yet have the rights to build a large wind farm offshore in Lake Erie. The company has agreed to buy a Canadian subsidiary of Utah's Wasatch Wind Inc. that has applied for those rights, but they have not yet been granted. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23423