At the turn of the decade, the anti-wind lobby escalated its campaign of exaggeration, cherry-picking, and scare tactics. Just five years later, community members from regional Victoria are saying enough is enough.
Ballarat local Xander Gray calls out those who perpetuate the scare campaign claiming wind turbines are a public health risk. The following letter to the editor was published by The Courier:
I REFER to Melissa Ware’s letter from May 5, 2015, in which she laments the level of ignorance on wind farm technology. I share her concerns about this ignorance.
Ignorance has led a small number of individuals to believe there is something unique, or even magical, about wind turbines and, subsequently, that they might negatively impact on human health.
To put it bluntly, to believe that wind turbines are somehow responsible for an undocumented epidemic of farm desertions, community disintegrations, yolkless eggs or aborted lambs is completely fanciful.
They are machines. They are magnets rotating around metal discs, making electricity.
That is all.
As a point of comparison, most of us drive cars on a daily basis, or even a tractor.
These machines see us immersed in mechanical noise (audible and sub-audible), as well as physical vibration, generated by an engine which contains several thousand fuel explosions every minute.
However, I have yet to hear of ‘Car Syndrome’, or ‘Diesel Motor Syndrome’, even though these machines have existed for almost a century more than modern wind turbines.
The ignorance I am truly concerned about is the ignorance that compels people to believe that they have somehow become victims of a ‘sinister plot’ to generate electricity on someone else’s land from a free and abundant fuel source.
There is a plethora of actual issues in our world to get wound up about – although they are usually further away from an unfulfilling home life, and a good hobby is sometimes hard to find.
Meanwhile, if someone has an abandoned property next to a wind farm to sell, call me, as I can’t seem to find one.
XANDER GRAY Black Hill
Opposition to wind energy technology comes from the political fringe. And Senator John Madigan’s wind energy inquiry (witch-hunt) is just the current manifestation of this dynamic.
Fringe politicians who where elected on preference deals and only managed a a trickle of primary votes — such as Sen. Madigan, Sen. Bob Day (Family First), and Sen. David Leyonhjelm (Lib Dems) — are over-represented on the wind energy inquiry.
On Sunday May 24, the radical libertarian Senator David Leyonhjelm called for government to monitor wind turbine sound. The Senator’s call was criticised for being antithetical to his “small government” views. Sen Leyonhjelm’s call went over like a lead balloon.
To ensure that the pro-renewable energy viewpoint of mainstream Australia is heard, we’re calling on people to sign our petition calling for a fair wind inquiry.
TAKE ACTION:
- Sign our petition calling for Senator Madigan to run a fair wind energy inquiry.
- Support our campaign by getting involved or making a donation.
- Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
