So, before we proclaim victory against our profligate use of fossil fuels in the last 50 years, politicians and environmental groups might ponder the huge costs in dollars and environmental damage before 20-storey windmills festoon our coastlines, our sea lanes and our beautiful Quebec hills.

Jon Boone addresses wind power for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Eric Rosenbloom, a resident of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, addresses why wind power does not live up to advocates' claims, why its impact on the environment and people's lives is far from benign and how money invested in wind energy could be better spent.

Ontario needs to return to rational decision-making when it comes to ensuring that current strategies meet future power generation needs. Current policies, such as the promotion of wind power, reflect public concerns about global warming at the expense of securing a stable and economic energy future. If such publicly popular but economically unsound policies continue, the province’s prosperity will be seriously jeopardized. In this provocative paper, one of the world’s leading experts on electricity generation traces the history of electrical utilities in Ontario and why their continued existence is essential to providing power cheaply and efficiently. In fact, he urges continued promotion of utilities as the best way to ensure that Ontario’s carbon footprint is reduced while maintaining its economic well-being.

The siting of industrial wind turbines in Ontario has been based on predictive computer modelling. While there is ample evidence regarding adverse health effects, the conduct of human health studies to determine regulations for setbacks and noise levels that protect health is still lacking. The purpose of this document is to inform authorities and decision makers of new evidence, including articles published in peer reviewed scientific journals which advance knowledge on the topic of adverse health effects of industrial turbines.

This peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of the College of Family Physicians of Canada examines the health impacts of industrial-scale wind turbines when sited in proximity of where people live. The introduction and conclusion of the paper is excerpted below. The full report can be accessed by clicking on the links at the bottom of this page.

This report of the results of Dr. Michael Nissenbaum's investigation into turbine noise impacts on residents living near the Mars Hill ME and Vinalhaven ME wind energy facilities was presented at the 10th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem (ICBEN) 2011 in London.

Dr. Michael Nissenbaum M.D. submitted this affidavit detailing his study of adverse health impacts from industrial wind turbines before the Rural Municipalities of Martin and Moosomin in the Province of Sasktchewan. The proposed wind project is known as the Red Lily Wind Energy project.

...I want people to be well aware of the negative side of these giant windmills before allowing them to be built in your neighborhoods.

Many of the complaints in the UK relating to wind farm noise appear to be due to the amplitude modulation (AM) of the aerodynamic noise from the blades, sometimes referred to as "swish" or "thump". Dick Bowdler explores the existing evidence and summarizes how the totality of what people experience when listening to wind turbine noise is really dependent on operating modes, weather, and even the location of the listener with respect to the turbines and the wind.