Concerned about industrial wind turbines?

My name is David Grey Eagle Sanford.

I am a Mohawk who did not grow up on a reserve. I grew up in the Rouge Valley in Scarborough, when Scarborough was a wilderness, and this has nourished me throughout my entire life. Ten years ago when the valley and wetlands were threatened with intensive inappropriate development and First Nations had not been consulted, my wife Kim and I felt it was our duty to stand up for Mother Earth when none of the government ministries which had been mandated to protect our resources were speaking for us.

For five years we reclaimed the land in the name of our ancestors, in peaceful protest, put up our teepee, started our fire and with the constant guidance of our ancestors, were able to save 24 acres of an historical village site dating back to the 1300s.

I know that Manitoulin Island is the largest island in a freshwater lake in the world. First Nations have lived on the island and nearby mainland for more than 10,000 years. This proposed wind factory has caused a lot of division in communities; between various Aboriginal tribes, some who wish the project to proceed and hope to gain financially and those who wish to see the lands and air remain untouched.

I need to share with you my knowledge of industrial wind turbine factories. They are not green. They are produced from oil and gas, transported using oil and gas, plasticized using oil and gas, transported thousands of miles again, then supported in two Olympic size pools of cement, which causes more CO2, 7 percent worldwide, and then they are left to rot in the sun, still spinning and killing birds and bats. For about 10-15 years, not the 25 years that the industry tells us. It is a highly subsidized industry, and energy rates go up 3-4 times, drive industry away, drive other jobs away, and that increase in hydro rates comes out of your pocket and mine goes directly into the developerʼs.

An economist in Spain estimates that 2.2 jobs are lost due to intensive renewables,and some say it is even 5.4 ordinary jobs lost per so-called green job gained.

Even more problematic is the loss of community, the loss of our sense of solidarity against an invasion. Because our birds are being killed at an unimaginable rate: eight million birds per year and sixteen million bats per year worldwide. There will soon be no eagles, no bats, and no chance to recover our lost promises to nature. For all of the sacred medicine people: our elders our traditional people, our chiefs, and for all of those eagle feathers that we carry in honour of freedom and the truth, how do we justify the killing of hundreds and hundreds of bald eagles that represent who we are? For those of you who are the carriers of the sacred eagle feathers, I can assure you that you would never feel good about carrying another feather if you witnessed the massacre of our
sacred birds.