Wind farms +generators= pollution

Back-up generators must be ready at all times to balance the unreliable wind generation. Because these generators must ramp up and down to balance the electrical grid, they are working at less than full capacity. Generators operating in this mode emit more co2 than they would if working at full capacity. That costs you money. That adds pollution.

Wind farms may give you health problems

The low frequency sound emitted by the blades travels easily and varies according to the direction of the wind. The French Academy of Medicine warns that these sounds constitute a permanent risk for some people exposed to them. Dr. Nina Pierpont speaks of "Wind Turbine Syndrome". Symptoms include sleep problems, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion and depression.

Potential disaster for the ecology

Thousands of migrating birds fly across Lake Ontario. Donald Fry of the American Bird Conservancy stated that at present rate, the wind industry will be killing 900,000 to 1.8 million birds per year. In North America many bird species are already declining for other reasons but losing more birds each year to wind farms would exacerbate these unexplained declines. In Ontario the government has failed to protect migratory birds by failing to stipulate that wind turbines must not be placed in the vicinity of migratory bird stopovers, diurnal and seasonal migration routes and important bird areas.

The implanting of wind turbines so close to the shore threatens 25 years of work by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority to revitalize the eastern beaches, naturalize the environment and to regenerate animal and bird life.

Eroding our Heritage

The bluffs are fragile, consisting of clay and sand and are thus subject to considerable natural erosion. Having massive industrial turbines only a few kilometres from shore will increase the rate of erosion as it changes the natural currents. We need to preserve the bluffs with their unparalleled views and surrounding serenity. The aesthetic beauty of Toronto's eastern shoreline with its trails and natural beaches is our heritage. A wind farm will destroy this last oasis of spatial relief which is desperately needed in an ever more pressurized urban environment.

The Final Blow : $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The wind farm, even if it functions at its "maximum efficiency" would produce far less than 1% of the electricity needed in Toronto. Wind farms last on the average 15 years and cost billions to build, maintain and replace. If most of the wind projects planned for Ontario are realized you can expect your electricity bill to triple. None of the exorbitant costs of infrastructure are born by the highly subsidized wind-farm company. That's your bill!

David White, energy consultant to governments in Europe and in the U.S.A in a paper referring to Ontario states, "It is imperative that the Auditor General's Office investigate this wasteful investment of public funds."

Is this really how we want our tax dollars spent?