Mr. McGuinty warned last month that he won't tolerate NIMBYism when it comes to wind farms unless objections are based on safety issues and environmental standards. This doesn't solve anything, however, as a new report yesterday by Environment Commissioner Gord Miller illustrated. The main point of the report is that the 183 species facing extinction or endangerment could be further threatened if the government doesn't bolster its new Endangered Species Act.

Their responsibility is that they will listen to the discord and harmony of public discourse and determine the right direction for our public good. To emphasize, we expect them to listen. However, it appears they are failing to meet that expectation. When Mr. Smitherman hosts a town hall meeting and fails to reflect a basic level of empathy with his constituents, telling them the plant will be built regardless of what they have to say, he fails our expectations to listen.

During this meeting one family in particular gave their account of what it is like to live 450 meters from a wind turbine. ...Their experience, like many other families, is nothing like the romantic picture painted by the green media. The reality of life in the shadows of a wind turbine can be devastating. This couple gave a passionate and at times tearful testimony of the impact to their lives since these turbines started operating.

On Tuesday, Progressive Conservative energy critic John Yakabuski proposed it be sent to committee for analysis - as a much less complicated piece of energy legislation had in the past - so second-reading debate could be more informed and productive. Predictably, even a reasonable request got a sneering slap-down from Smitherman. "I do apologize to the member if the matter at hand has caught him off guard and it's too complex for him to be able to participate in the legislative debate," he said.

Not surprisingly, wind companies from all over are lining up for a piece of the free money. Little citizens' groups have sprung up across the province to try to stop them from erecting 35-storey wind turbines in their backyards. But the Premier's energy minister, George Smitherman (a.k.a. The Enforcer), has declared that he will squash the NIMBYs like a bug. I have wind turbines coming to my backyard, too. I wouldn't mind - if only they made sense. If only they could really help us break our addiction to coal and oil, cut our emissions etc. But they can't.

Under the act, municipal governments would be stripped of their roles in approving power projects such as industrial wind turbine "farms." This would override moratoria on wind farm construction imposed in several Ontario municipalities, including South Algonquin and Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards townships in our area. It is hard to see the justification for such a hard-line measure, or for Premier Dalton McGuinty's wholesale labelling of those who have legitimate concerns about wind turbines in their areas as NIMBYS - the increasingly shopworn acronym for "not in my back yard."

Most provinces have moved to add more "green" energy to their power supply, but the $5-billion Ontario plan sets a new standard. The proposed legislation also sets province-wide guidelines for the location of energy projects and kills municipalities' power to block them. Wind farm opponents worry the new approval process will make it possible to push projects forward without the support of the surrounding community.

Few things are as alarming as politicians who don't understand an issue suddenly deciding they do and then dictating to the rest of us how we will be permitted to respond. Say hello to Premier Dalton McGuinty and his faithful pit bull, Energy Minister George Smitherman, as they bully and blunder their way across Ontario on the issue of renewable energy.

The federal government seems set to gut environmental protection laws that were among the major victories of the "green" wave in the 1980s. It's sharpening three tools for the evisceration. They will remove assurances that all significant projects will face careful public scrutiny of their potential impact. Ottawa wants to get those infrastructure shovels in the ground as quickly as possible: No pesky environmental challenges should delay its proposed array of highways, bridges, wharves and other projects.

Basically the Toronto Hydro Energy Services project team, led by Joyce McLean, did such a horrible job at responding to community concerns they lost control of the project and needed McGuinty to step in and use his position to dismantle well established democratic freedoms for force the project through to create these 50 000 jobs so called ‘NIMBYists’ were holding up. Let’s look at the economics of the Toronto Hydro Energy Services plan and use facts from the Premier’s mouth, PACE Global Energy Services - an independent consultant on the proposed cancelled Long Island offshore wind farm, and Toronto Hydro Energy Services to figure out the economic impact.

To the people of this province reading this, please do your research. Please stand up for your rights. Read the fine print in your newspapers. Don't be caught unawares. There are no health studies or environmental studies being done. They are just being whipped into place without due diligence, and now our Premier has decided to take out the role of the municipalities. Instead of working with them to solve issues, he is rolling over them. And it prompts my question once again; why is the protection for people and the environment virtually non-existent in this program?

The letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty articulates the frustration of many Canadians with the Ontario Provincial government's failure to consider the potential harmful effects of wind power development on the environment and human health and safety. Although written for a Canadian audience, the message applies in the United States and elsewhere in the world where turbine installations are aggressively being pursued.

Your Jan. 23 article, Kingsville Wind Farm Plugged In, was hardly good news, and opens up a Pandora's box of exploitation in an economically ravaged region. This location is optimal from a business standpoint, and disregards documented health-related issues. As always, there is a tradeoff. The paltry economic spinoff of six to eight local wind farm jobs, along with an annual regional influx of $125,000 and $300,000, is better than nothing. But, at what cost?

Premier Dalton McGuinty is poised to ram through legislation that could make it impossible for ordinary citizens to object to wind turbines, solar panel fields and biofuel plants on the grounds they're essential to Ontario. This is a disturbing turn and should give every civil libertarian pause. ...Despite the mom-and-apple-pie goodness invoked by its name, the Green Energy Act threatens to set a dangerous precedent.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is clearly floating a trial balloon through the wind-turbine community with his NIMBY message. 'Not in my backyard' isn't a reason for blocking new energy projects that will be tolerated by Queen's Park when its Green Energy Act is rolled out, the premier says. ...McGuinty and the Liberals can rail all they want about the NIMBY crowd, but there are many unknowns about new energy projects and what they will mean to our urban and rural communities. It's not fair to people who've lived in their homes for years to have their peace and quiet, or their sunlight or their fresh air adversely affected.

I am writing to express grave concern about the new Windmill law that will stop municipalities from controlling their own futures. This is particularly important to Prince Edward County. ...Lower property values and dropping tourism are things that we cannot afford and should not have to put up with. Why should the people of Prince Edward County have to sacrifice our new economy, our jobs, our lifestyle, for a provincial initiative that could place these turbines anywhere else in this huge province? The suggestion that this is "NIMBYism" is offensive.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has run afoul of two fallacies which plague governments with his new "Green Energy Act." The Act, which does not have a defined price-tag, would supposedly create 50,000 new jobs, putting people to work building windmills, solar power plants ...But there are some hard realities that suggest Premier McGuinty's plan isn't the smartest way to do it. Let's review the reasons why governments cannot create jobs, and why labelling them "green" doesn't change the basic dynamics.

It is with great· sadness that we have come to the realization that the "Mohawk Point Wind Farm" has virtually destroyed our backyard avian population. (Lowbanks Wind Facility, Haldimand County, Ontario) ...The only tenants in the nesting box and brand new $120.00 Purple Martin House will be sparrows. The constant drone of the turbine closest to us is, in my opinion, comparable to the sound of the heavy duty cycle on a clothes dryer. The drone continues non-stop, 24 hours a day, and it will be interesting to see how long the sparrows and starlings continue to put up with it.

Here in Huron County we have municipalities struggling with how to regulate proposed wind farms. Those opposed to the turbines point to the potential of the health risks some have claimed are possible by living close to turbines. Others don't like the noise from the turbines. Others just don't like what they look like. Whatever the reason, it's clear the issue of wind farms is a controversy that won't go away soon.

In returning Shear Wind's initial Environment Assessment registration document for more information, the prior minister of environment, Mark Parent, afforded Shear Wind, Inc. a full year to get it right. Instead, they responded in less than two months with a document that is still incomplete and now abuses the related technical literature. Large blocks of text (100 words and more) in the health section are essentially identical to text in a report authored by the Ohio Department of Health. There are neither quotation marks nor any attributions to the original work.