We live in an era where the use of alternate forms of energy are becoming increasingly important - perhaps even critical as fossil fuel supplies dwindle over the next 50 years. At the same time, the application of alternate solutions must be based upon common sense and hard facts based upon scientific research. In the case of wind power, for which the jury is still out, this requires even more scrutiny.

Exactly why Dennis Trochim believes Manitoba would be especially proactive in building wind farms, regardless of whether the financially troubled firm Babcock and Brown is involved is hard to fathom. If this province depended largely on imported power, the proposal would make some sense; but since it gets about 98 per cent of its electricity from hydro, what's the reason for any urgency?

It is time for Ontario to work with citizens and environmental specialists to establish guidelines for the careful development of wind energy (Who Could Object To Wind Power? - Nov. 25). There are some places where wind turbines simply don't belong. ...Build wind developments in the wrong places and the environment will be collateral damage.

What the Scarborough fiasco showed is the lie behind environmentalist and media claims that opinion polling shows the public virtually unanimous in support of "green" energy. ...And if environmentalists think they can win those battles simply by flooding the zone, as they did in Scarborough this week, rather than through reasoned debate, they're sadly mistaken.

Minister Smitherman's recent letter in Barry's Bay This Week (Wind power has important role, Oct. 29, 2008) revealed a disturbing lack of understanding of the true nature of this rush to wind-farm construction. He seems to think that it is about producing environmentally friendly power. But a sober look at the process shows that it is not. Any ordinary business would proceed slowly. In a marginal area such as ours, they would build one turbine, see how it worked out and gradually expand the operation. So why are these firms so eager to construct so many turbines so fast in untested areas?

Wind power can't survive without massive subsidies, courtesy of you and me. "If these hidden subsidies were taken away, there would not be a single wind turbine built in Britain," says David Bellamy, a well-known environmentalist who has been tramping the Scottish countryside to oppose a massive wind project there. ...When will we stop pouring billions into wind? I have no idea. Politicians really love their turbines. Meantime, that soft whooshing sound you hear is your friendly green government, vacuuming money out of your pockets.

If you live on or near North Cape Coastal Drive (Rte 14) or in Milo or Kildare or surrounding communities, there is a good chance you will fall victim to wind turbines and high voltage power lines hovering over your home. Keep in mind that under current regulations, a wind turbine can be placed as close as 1,200 ft. from your home.

These [wind] companies stand to make huge amounts of money from the "gold rush" of construction of wind turbines and a great deal of that money is coming from your pocket in the form of government subsidies. Whose interests are they looking out for? It sure isn't yours. ...If you live in rural Ontario you need to educate yourself and you need to do it quickly in order to keep your home and community as a safe place to live in.

The road to a cleaner, greener energy future is fraught with strife on Wolfe Island. The disruption and dust caused by the construction of 86 massive windmills has forced at least one couple to pack up and leave their island home of 17 years. ...If wind farms are the way of the future, and are to be promoted by the provincial government, then the province is obliged to study and learn from the mistakes of the Wolfe Island project and the negative effects it has produced.

Once a booming industry thanks to sky-high oil prices, the feel-good trend, carbon reduction and subsidies, the financial crisis has pushed investors to give up on green energies, and like the dot-com bubble of 2000, some analysts say it's about to burst. ..."I think economic reality will kill the green industry," said Mr. Buckee, who now lives in Britain and lectures on climate change. Solar energy isn't alone in its woes. Wind, biomass, biofuel and other "clean-tech" companies are getting pasted too as the financial crisis sends investors fleeing from technology names, dries up credit and freezes the IPO market.

When the turbines started up near her home, in Shelburne, Ont., Helen Fraser suffered severe health effects. ...The latest ad from Sky-Power [a developer of renewable energy projects], states: "In over 25 years and with more than 68,000 turbines installed around the world, no member of the public has ever been harmed by wind turbines." ...So who is telling the truth?

When debating wind energy, there is one point we can all agree on: there are sites suited for wind energy and sites that are not. Our beautiful township is not suitable. The moratorium passed unanimously by our Township Council reflects this. One visit here and it will be clear to you. ...The point is, Mr. Smitherman, our main industry is tourism and recreation. Visitors drive for several hours to enjoy the sense of wilderness our beautiful township offers. They come here to get away from industry. Please understand, this township's livelihood and way of life depends largely on the natural beauty of this land.

[D]ue to the threats of global warming and skyrocketing oil and gas prices that have caught everyone's attention, all the parties have jumped on the green bandwagon with many promising a future where our dependence on fossil fuels and their harmful consequences to our environment will be a thing of the past. Such Utopian visions are commendable but the devil will be in the details for whoever forms the next government

I find it amazing that the public is so uninformed on the topic of wind turbines. People think wind is the golden egg of green energy; in fact, turbine companies cannot exist as viable companies without government subsidies. ...Green energy is great, I'm all for it, but not at a cost that will put the average Canadian taxpayer in the poor house.

Industrial wind turbines are being pushed by government and wind developers, doing their own studies, to promote their own interests. All of us who are in the line of fire from these gigantic industrial installations seem to be of little concern. Our rural countryside is threatened with industrial wind power installations with minimum setbacks from homes of only 400 meters.

It was noted that there are always costs that must be mitigated when producing power for our consumerist lifestyles. One glaring omission from the meagre list of negatives to wind power is the pollution of noise and its sequela. These generators are very noisy. Research into sound pollution is not complete and its effects on both human and wildlife must be considered. ...We must do a full environmental assessment on how the sound vibrations will affect life within its footprint, just as we would any other technology.

Next week Grand Mananers will be invited to a public meeting to hear about a wind farm planned for the "back of the island-" the high western cliffs facing the Grand Manan Channel and the State of Maine. The proponent, First Wind of Newton, Massachusetts, acquired the rights to the site on property owned by the off-island Crabbe forestry company, from a fledgling New Brunswick company that has since disappeared from the scene. The First Wind plan is for 13 wind turbines (over 200 feet or 60 metres high), with the potential for another 50 if all goes well.

These three letters all respond to recent news reports on the wind energy facility proposed for Amherst Island and the potential of that project exceeding the 88-turbine Wolfe Island facility now under construction.

Ontario, which has developed and implemented some progressive policies for getting more renewable energy on the grid, hasn't found a way to tie these programs into a larger, economic-boosting industrial strategy. None of its request for proposals for new wind power has required any level of local content, nor does the province's standard offer program, which pays a premium for the electricity that comes from small-scale solar, wind, hydro and biogas projects.