tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35183792955768612852024-03-28T03:32:26.753-04:00Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind PowerThe view on wind from 500mOntario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-34891920059499917232013-03-25T09:23:00.000-04:002013-03-25T09:23:12.790-04:00Inventing Victims - Wind Turbine Syndrome in OntarioToday's guest editorial comes from Richard (Dick) Hill, a retired researcher who is interested in the social advantages of wind power and environmental protection. As a former mayor, he is also intrigued by the political and activist hypocrisy approach in attacking this new energy source.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The effect and non-effect of Ontario wind
turbines is a topical discussion. I have just read a book, <i>The Righteous Mind</i> by Jonathon Haidt (Pantheon 2012), which provides
significant thought on how humans react with something new and what drives people
who are resistant to change. Haidt basically comments that if somebody
doesn’t like change or the appearance of wind turbines, they will invent
victims to justify their assumptions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In Ontario, the anti-wind turbine syndrome is
mainly a creation of the Conservative Party in an effort to minimize any
environmental and economic effects initiated by the Liberal Party, in
particular the Green Energy Act of 2009. It is used as a political wedge
issue to create FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. The unsubstantiated
issues of public health and economics are secondary to the political challenge
of defeating the opposition by any means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There are over 250,000 large wind turbines
around the world producing environmentally friendly electricity with little
social or economic comment. Even in Ontario the most effected people,
with operating wind turbines on their property, do not complain. If the
anti-wind activist statements were true, most of Europe would be dead by
now. The wind turbine syndrome is essentially an Ontario illness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The well-funded anti-wind activists talk of
supposed harms without scientific or technical evidence that stand
jurisprudence. It is an issue searching for a problem with reasoning in
support of emotional reactions for the judgements they have already made.
Most people make first judgements quickly and then search for reasons to
support them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Many of the supposed harms from wind turbines
are fabricated myths with preposterous victim claims. The anti-wind zealots are
not searching for veracity, but are reasoning in support of their emotional
reactions using distorted scientific studies, social media and Google to
find support. This confirmatory mindset is a one-sided method to rationalize
a particular point of view in support of their decision. This extreme
partisanship can be addictive, forming a consensual hallucination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There are multiple ills attributed to wind
turbines with headaches, nausea, and sleep loss being most prevalent. These
problems are common with modern living of which around 20 to 50 percent of the
population complain whether or not they live near wind turbines. The
symptoms are real but the causes are general.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This situation is political opinion that is not
based on real facts. Well-funded lobby groups have the skills and
resources to distort reality making it difficult for the medical community to
overcome. Most of the anti-wind evidence is based on personal
stories without medical certification or judicial review. Also myths
and mischief Information are provided by vested interests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Front organizations such as Wind Concerns
Ontario and Ontario Wind Resistance spread misleading stories and faux facts
about wind turbines that scares people in the manner of a flu or small pox
epidemic. Other social scares have been created for cell phone, WIFI,
wireless phone towers, high-voltage power lines, fluoridated water and
vaccinations to which the same illnesses such as headaches and sleep
deprivation are attributed. The medical community has not been able to
find any linkage causing human adverse health. Studies have shown that
attributed symptoms continue as long as the sufferer believes they are exposed
to the source even when the source no longer exists. This is known as
psychogenic illnesses, otherwise known as the nocebo effect - belief that
something causes real harm- and is the opposite to a placebo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Some Ontario residents are suffering genuine
health symptoms but the source of these symptoms should not be attributed to
wind turbines. Possibly these illnesses are caused by the extreme hype of
the anti-wind organizations that spread misinformation and bully citizens at
public meetings. It is the misinformation from vested interests that causes
harm, not wind turbines. The syndrome is mainly a communicated disease
causing medical panic related to either hysteria or NIMBY-ism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Haidt’s <i>‘The Righteous Mind’</i> helps to understand the anti-wind political
aspects and how balanced information can help the wind industry to proceed with
the their environment friendly and cost effective energy programs.
Ontario residents are foolish to be consumed by fear of hypothetical harm from
the supposed health effects of living next to wind farms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-8503817432404601062013-03-22T09:41:00.001-04:002013-03-22T09:41:39.373-04:00Can Wind Turbines Make You Sick?<br />
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Here's a great summary of the latest wind news from <a href="http://www.slate.com/"><span style="color: blue;">The Slate</span></a>. It's full of useful hyperlinks to the original sources.</div>
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Wind turbines near Palm Springs, Calif.</div>
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Photo by David McNew/Getty Images</div>
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A new syndrome appears to be highly contagious.</div>
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<span style="color: #006699; font-size: 13px;"><b>By </b><a href="http://www.slate.com/authors.keith_kloor.html"><b>Keith Kloor</b></a></span>|Posted Wednesday, March 20, 2013, at 1:17 PM</div>
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In the past several years, scores of people living near wind farms have claimed to have been sickened by noise from the rotating blades. They have complained of everything from headaches and depression to conjunctivitis and nosebleeds. Is “wind turbine syndrome” real? Is it just another imaginary illness stoked by loons on the Internet? Are the victims a bunch of fakers?</div>
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Noisy environments can be irritating and sleep-disrupting. But advocates of the new syndrome (which is not medically recognized) say that wind turbines pose specific dangers. They claim that exposure to wind farms’ low-frequency noise, even vibrations below the threshold of human hearing, is having dangerous physiological effects.</div>
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Several recent studies might explain what’s going on here. One of them, published in <i>Health Psychology</i>, found that the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2013-07740-001/"><span style="color: #006699;">power of suggestion</span></a> can induce symptoms associated with wind turbine syndrome. Researchers exposed 60 participants to 10 minutes of infrasound (vibrations too low in frequency to hear) and sham infrasound (that is, silence). Before the listening sessions, half the group was shown television footage of people who lived near wind farms recounting the harmful effects they said were caused by noise from the spinning blades. Within this group, the people who scored high on a test of anxiety became symptomatic whether they were exposed to low-frequency noise or sham infrasound.</div>
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As one of the authors of the study <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/how-the-power-of-suggestion-generates-wind-farm-symptoms-12833"><span style="color: #006699;">points out</span></a>, this appears to be a classic case of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo"><span style="color: #006699;">nocebo effect</span></a>. It’s the evil twin of the placebo effect, which is often a pain-alleviating response to a sham pill or treatment. Nocebo effects are harmful symptoms that arise from negative information. For example, some participants in medical trials who are warned of potential adverse side effects experience precisely those side effects, even though they’re really taking a phony medication. The nocebo effect is psychogenic, a case of the mind making the body sick.</div>
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Several factors appear to be contributing to the sudden onset of medical problems attributed to wind turbines. A study released last week from the University of Sydney found that most of the health complaints about wind turbines came from an area of Australia where an <a href="http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8977"><span style="color: #006699;">organized anti-wind movement has been publicizing health concerns</span></a> since 2009. (Coincidentally, the term <i>wind turbine syndrome</i> was coined in 2009 as the title of a <a href="http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/wind-turbine-syndrome/"><span style="color: #006699;">self-published book</span></a>.) "Health complaints were as rare as proverbial rocking horse droppings until the scare-mongering groups began megaphoning their apocalyptic, scary messages to rural residents," <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/new-study-wind-turbine-syndrome-is-spread-by-scaremongers-12834"><span style="color: #006699;">says study author Simon Chapman</span></a>. As he <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/15/windfarm-sickness-spread-word-australia"><span style="color: #006699;">pointed out</span></a> to the <i>Guardian</i>: "If wind farms were intrinsically unhealthy or dangerous in some way, we would expect to see complaints applying to all of them, but in fact there is a large number where there have been no complaints at all."</div>
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And yet, the number of health problems attributed to wind turbines seems to multiply by the day, according to a <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/publications/WindfarmDiseases.pdf"><span style="color: #006699;">compendium</span></a> that Chapman maintains. His list now tops more than 200 maladies, which leads him to ask sardonically if there has ever been a bigger threat to humanity.</div>
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The epidemic also attests to the power of modern media, especially those outlets that have <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2199284/Wind-farms-Are-wind-farms-saving-killing-A-provocative-investigation-claims-thousands-people-falling-sick-live-near-them.html"><span style="color: #006699;">hyped anecdotal claims</span></a> of wind turbine syndrome. A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698575.2013.776015?journalCode=chrs20#preview"><span style="color: #006699;">study</span></a> published late last year in <i>Health, Risk & Society</i> calls this the "fright factor." Researchers surveying newspaper coverage of wind power in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2011 found that many articles focused on “environmental risks and human health” concerns. It turns out that the press may be just as responsible as anti-wind activists for triggering the nocebo effect in those who believe they have fallen ill from wind turbines.</div>
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That jibes with a finding from a study published earlier this month in the <i>Journal of Psychosomatic Research</i> that <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399912003352"><span style="color: #006699;">asked in its title</span></a>, "Are media warnings about the adverse effects of modern life self-fulfilling?" The study addressed another supposed danger—electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi signals—that also has the power to evoke a nocebo response. As in the wind turbine study, participants watched a TV report of people claiming that Wi-Fi signals had caused them to fall ill. Researchers exposed participants to sham Wi-Fi signals and found that a number of the people (once again, those who were already identified as having an anxious personality) exhibited symptoms such as stomach pain and headaches.</div>
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Reports on the supposed dangers of electromagnetic fields from <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/04/on_top_of_microwave_mountain.html"><span style="color: #006699;">cellphone towers</span></a> and overhead power lines have been <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13698575.2012.716820#preview"><span style="color: #006699;">circulating in the media</span></a> for years. The roots of EMF hysteria in the United States can be <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2013/02/27/annals-of-amplification-in-journalism/"><span style="color: #006699;">traced back</span></a> to the 1980s and 1990s and the work of a crusading journalist who published stories in <i>The New Yorker</i> under the heading “<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/search?qt=dismax&sort=score+desc&query=annals+of+radiation&submit="><span style="color: #006699;">Annals of Radiation</span></a>.” People have attributed a myriad of illnesses to EMF, particularly neurological disorders and brain tumors. But after many millions of dollars of peer-reviewed research in the past few decades, there is <a href="http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/nonsense-about-the-health-effects-of-electromagnetic-radiation/"><span style="color: #006699;">no credible scientific evidence</span></a> for such claims.</div>
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Still, concerns are <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_347_en.pdf"><span style="color: #006699;">so persistent globally</span></a> that the World Health Organization (WHO) has looked comprehensively into the matter, <a href="http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/index1.html"><span style="color: #006699;">concluding</span></a>: "Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done, scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields."</div>
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In the United States, paranoia over EMF seems to have died down in recent years, though there are plenty of dead-enders who still <a href="http://www.bioinitiative.org/media/press-releases/"><span style="color: #006699;">flog the issue</span></a>. Those who might have been inclined to fret about the danger of power lines may now instead be <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/06/wheres_the_panic_button_on_this_phone.html"><span style="color: #006699;">focusing their fears on cellphones</span></a>. (This subset of chronic worriers should know that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/sep/06/medicalscience.healthandwellbeing"><span style="color: #006699;">everything gives you cancer</span></a>.)</div>
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Meanwhile, people living near wind farms, <a href="http://climatide.wgbh.org/2011/03/the-falmouth-experience-sick-from-the-noise/"><span style="color: #006699;">including a number of residents in one Massachusetts community</span></a>, say they are experiencing headaches, insomnia, ringing in the ears, and other symptoms. It’s impossible to know whether they are extra-sensitive to low-frequency noise, would have had insomnia and headaches wherever they live, or are psychologically predisposed to react badly to negative information on wind turbines. For the time being, perhaps Stephen Colbert's <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/420904/november-07-2012/wind-power-s-health-hazards"><span style="color: #006699;">take</span></a> on wind turbine syndrome as a "communicated disease" seems the best explanation. Here's hoping this article doesn't spread it any further.</div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-81241520787647224752012-12-07T15:28:00.000-05:002012-12-07T15:28:51.407-05:00Wind supporter takes shot at wind fighters <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN">Wind supporter takes shot at wind fighters</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">The Kincardine News<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Dear Editor,</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Our family attended several council meetings in the past because we truly care about our community and the many issues that determine our future.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">My children do not really like to come because of the hostile behaviour from some citizens and propaganda language being used when it comes to wind energy.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">They know that the term "industrial" as an adjective for wind turbines is the result of a series of focus groups financed by one of the Koch brothers as part of his opposition to a proposed offshore wind project near Cape Cod.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">At times we too feel misrepresented by our council and citizen representative but that is part of the process in real life.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">To attack a fellow citizen in public is just another step to divide our community.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Please pick up the phone or even better go to the person that you feel has done something wrong and speak directly to him or her in a civil and rational manner. I know from experience that it can resolve many misunderstandings and lead to a better society.</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">There were times when I felt as though the radio might be the safest way for me to express my views about renewable energy. Many friends of wind in Ontario are thinking that the greatest health hazard related to wind energy is speaking out in support for wind energy!</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">ReNew Canada published a comprehensive report on wind energy in Ontario last year. Its conclusion states " Wind Concerns Ontario could not adequately provide evidence to support its claims." It has used material out of context, provided facts without support, and has firmly put the burden of proof on the proponents of wind rather than having to prove its own statements."</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Look at the big picture of energy options that we are being offered right now, join hands, compromise and start developing a plan together!</span></span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Jutta Splettstoesser<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="text1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Kincardine</span></i></span></div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-39054811565819516952012-12-05T09:06:00.001-05:002012-12-05T09:06:45.194-05:00Doing well by doing good<br />
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<b>Private sector can act to cut energy use without waiting for government</b></div>
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<b>thestar.com</b></div>
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Published on Monday December 03, 2012</div>
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<span style="color: #343434;">The full story is </span><a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1297092--private-sector-can-act-to-cut-energy-use-without-waiting-for-government"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a><span style="color: #343434;">.</span></div>
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<b>Mike Pedersen</b> </div>
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Moving toward a low-carbon economy was high on the agenda of policy-makers prior to the financial crisis and ensuing global recession. Priorities shifted with these events, but a series of announcements this fall suggest this shift may have been temporary.</div>
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Ottawa announced it is making progress in meeting the carbon emission targets set out by the Copenhagen accord. The British government launched the world’s first investment bank with the sole purpose of “greening the U.K. economy.” And in his victory speech, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke about the “destructive power of a warming planet.” The mention was brief, but for a nation still reeling from the extreme force of Superstorm Sandy — something the mayor of New York City directly linked to climate change — the message was clear.</div>
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<span style="color: #343434;">More pronouncements and policy discussions will follow the </span><a href="http://unfccc.int/meetings/doha_nov_2012/meeting/6815.php"><span style="color: blue;">UN Climate Change Conference being held in Doha</span></a><span style="color: #343434;">. Yet in the immediate term market forces continue to influence energy use. High energy costs and the slow-growth economy are motivating Canadian companies to become more energy efficient. Indeed, the </span><a href="https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/Pages/HomePage.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Carbon Disclosure Project</span></a><span style="color: #343434;">, which asks the country’s top 200 publicly traded companies to provide information on their emission reduction strategies, reported on 140 initiatives that generated annual savings this year — an increase of 32 per cent from the previous year. By serving their private interests, companies are also advancing the public good.</span></div>
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That’s been our experience at TD. Becoming the first North American-based carbon-neutral bank imposed a discipline on us to do more with less — in effect, boost our productivity. At the same time, we have reduced the amount of greenhouse gases we add to the Earth’s atmosphere.</div>
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Three strategies underpin our initiative: use less energy, use “greener” energy, and “offset” the remaining emissions with high quality carbon credits.</div>
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The second and third strategies proved to be catalysts for a number productivity gains. Simply put, the additional cost required to use greener energy or offset our emissions made the status quo too expensive. In turn the business case for achieving greater energy efficiency became more compelling.</div>
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This has led us to create “net zero” energy branches in both the U.S. and Canada that are designed to produce at least as much energy as they use. We have also implemented energy efficiency projects across our operations, including construction of a more energy-efficient data centre for our North American operations.</div>
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Overall, we have reduced our North American greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy usage by 4 per cent, even though we have increased our real estate footprint by 24 per cent. We are on target to reduce carbon by one tonne per employee by 2015 — a 28-per cent reduction from our 2008 baseline. This represents substantial cost savings.</div>
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Additionally, new revenue streams have been tapped — partly due to the expertise we have gained in reducing energy consumption and purchasing offsets.</div>
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For instance, renewable energy financing now stands at over $2 billion, and we have been able to introduce innovative small-scale renewables financing products in the retail market.</div>
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Ironically, back in 2008, our motivation to become carbon neutral was based in part on the assumption that widespread carbon pricing was imminent. Our timing was wrong, but we fortunately stuck with our conviction that the dynamic between energy and environment would eventually change the way our customers live, work and play.</div>
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Given the re-emerging interest in creating low-carbon economies, are we now in a better position to adapt to some form of carbon pricing? To be sure, we are far more familiar with both the principle and practice.</div>
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However, in Canada, policy clarity is still evolving. For example, the different provincial systems already in place can create conflicting obligations for companies.</div>
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This could impede investments in technologies critical to emission reduction, according to a paper recently produced by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives — a long-time proponent for consistent carbon pricing across the country. Echoing this position, more than 100 global corporations, including some of the world’s leading energy companies, have called on policy-makers to develop an “unambiguous global carbon price.” It’s also important to take into full account the economic impact any pricing system would have on any given region or industry, so not to place inappropriate burdens on them. Economic and environmental goals are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they are integral to each other.</div>
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Yet Canadian businesses need not wait for any national plan. Nor are they. An overwhelming majority of respondents to the Climate Disclosure Project have integrated emission reduction initiatives into their business strategy. Companies can advance the public good while serving their private interests. This prolonged period of slow growth requires organizations to maximize savings to reinvest and grow. They must also find new revenue streams to offset the economic headwinds. Going carbon neutral has helped us achieve both goals through lower energy usage and operating costs, product innovation and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.</div>
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<b>Mike Pedersen</b><i>, Group Head Wealth Management, Insurance, & Corporate Shared Services, TD Bank Group</i></div>
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Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-48109680204062515012012-12-01T17:25:00.000-05:002012-12-03T10:25:44.167-05:00The Wizard from Oz<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhn0yVPG5Mk4l6NfsN1DJWv1LzFH7oD2lQmwxy69VrMHbdusXZsM52aR4rq-QYe92DzmyBWqK89xI7UZDe_fpWOnj8PNkMobO3p2wdFHRtEpdLKdXQaBePGbWqlQk0KPFx9vx7w_0uQmU/s1600/4093433507_138d58f493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhn0yVPG5Mk4l6NfsN1DJWv1LzFH7oD2lQmwxy69VrMHbdusXZsM52aR4rq-QYe92DzmyBWqK89xI7UZDe_fpWOnj8PNkMobO3p2wdFHRtEpdLKdXQaBePGbWqlQk0KPFx9vx7w_0uQmU/s320/4093433507_138d58f493.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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We have always admired the work of Professor Simon Chapman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney. He has taken a strong stand against tobacco and is now shining a light on the effects of the fear/uncertainty/doubt (FUD) campaign being waged by many wind opponents.</div>
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His recent submission to the Australian Senate Inquiry into Renewable Energy (Electricity) sums up his motivation nicely:</div>
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<i>I have long had a scholarly interest in risk communication. In particular, I am</i></div>
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<i>interested in significant, high-risk health problems which are under-rated by the</i></div>
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<i>public (eg: smoking), and in low-risk putative health problems which are overrated</i></div>
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<i>by some members of the public causing them to worry, panic and</i></div>
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<i>sometimes express symptoms. It is my view, for reasons set out below, ["below" meaning the balance of his submission] that </i><i>concerns about the health effects of wind turbines fall into the latter category.</i></div>
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Recently, he published an op ed piece in <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/programs/the-drum/">"The Drum"</a>, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's on-line news channel. You can find the full edition, including over 400 comments and active links here: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4394656.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4394656.html</span></a></div>
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<b>28 NOVEMBER 2012</b></div>
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Fanning fear: the wind farm nocebo effect</div>
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<b>SIMON CHAPMAN</b></div>
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<b><i>Most wind farms around the </i></b><b><i>world have no history of </i></b><b><i>complaints, but the few that do</i></b></div>
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<b><i>have seen the local area targeted </i></b><b><i>by external activists who spread </i></b><b><i>panic. Simon Chapman reflects</i></b></div>
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<b><i>on the nonsense claims of anti-wind farm activists.</i></b></div>
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Later today, the Senate will release the report of a committee into a Private Senators' Bill</div>
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examining the proposal that wind turbines should not be accredited if the sound emitted</div>
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exceeds 10 decibels of the background noise at any time, measured within 22 metres of a</div>
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house.</div>
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The Bill was proposed by Democratic Labor Party Senator John Madigan and independent</div>
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Senator Nick Xenophon. Both have form in expressing opposition to wind farms.</div>
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Like Don Quixote who tilted at windmills, Madigan <span style="color: #1c35ea;"><a href="https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=764195aa-66d2-41e5-9b06-16f6df0689dc.">previously claimed (PDF)</a> </span>he was</div>
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fighting a "sinister" and "dangerous" industry and Xenophon believes turbines <span style="color: #1c35ea;">affect brain<span id="goog_649657852"></span><span id="goog_649657853"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></span></div>
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activity.</div>
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No one following the latest historical example of what is quite plainly technophobic</div>
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Luddism has any doubt that the tabling will see a minority report that the proposed</div>
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standard be adopted. The bill will be defeated on party lines, with the Greens supporting</div>
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the Government. But it has provided a conduit for a Niagara of mostly boilerplate protest</div>
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material from the tiny but highly organised opponent groups.</div>
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While the bill is purportedly about noise levels in the audible spectrum, the focus of many</div>
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fear-laden submissions has been around the sub-audible low-frequency noise - infrasound -</div>
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that wind turbines (and pretty much all machines) create. While <span style="color: #1c35ea;">studies have shown (PDF)</span></div>
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that Australians living near the coast or in cities are constantly subject to far greater 'doses'</div>
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of infrasound, apparently the sort emitted by wind turbines has a special flavour that</div>
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causes a never-before-seen medical condition.</div>
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"Wind turbine syndrome" is a term coined in a <span style="color: #1c35ea;">self-published book </span>by a US small town</div>
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doctor who personally opposed a wind farm proposed near her property. Tellingly, the</div>
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term does not appear once among 22 million papers indexed by <span style="color: #1c35ea;">PubMed</span>, the US National</div>
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Library of Medicine's repository of peer reviewed research published in acknowledged</div>
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journals.</div>
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With now <span style="color: #1c35ea;">217 diseases </span>and symptoms claimed to be caused by exposure to the subaudible,</div>
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low frequency infrasound emitted by wind turbines - some by as little as a few</div>
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minutes exposure - there are undeniable and rhino-in-the-room size clues that complaints</div>
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are psychogenic: "<span style="color: #1c35ea;">communicated</span>" diseases spread by the nocebo effect. This is where</div>
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dramatically and repeatedly suggesting to people that something is likely to make you ill,</div>
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triggers claims and sometimes symptomatic illness in a minority of people.</div>
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Most wind farms around the world and in Australia have no history of complaints, and</div>
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most of those which do, have seen the local area targeted by external anti-wind farm</div>
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activists who spread panic and tell frightened locals to report anything they might</div>
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experience to their doctor. The activist groups even provide <span style="color: #6c3198;">symptom menus </span>to assist</div>
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residents.</div>
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Wind farms have existed in Western Australia for nearly 20 years, yet no company</div>
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operating over there has ever received a health complaint. Significantly, there are no antiwind</div>
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farm group operating in the state.</div>
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By contrast, here's a case study of how complaints can get going on the east coast.</div>
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In early October 2010, residents of Leonards Hill in central Victoria were encouraged to</div>
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attend a presentation in Evansford, given by an <span style="color: #1c35ea;">unregistered doctor</span>, Sarah Laurie, who has</div>
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become Australia's high priestess of wind farm anxiety. Laurie <span style="color: #6c3198;">believes (PDF)</span>that</div>
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turbulence from wind turbines can "perceptibly rock stationary cars even further than a</div>
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kilometre away from the nearest wind turbine" and <span style="color: #1c35ea;">told a meeting (PDF) </span>in 2011 that</div>
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spending a night near wind turbines can cause "just about everybody ...every five or ten</div>
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minutes needing to go to the toilet."</div>
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In the same week, the Australian Environment Foundation, a deceptively <span style="color: #1c35ea;">named </span>climate</div>
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change denialist group, arranged a protest meeting at the opening ceremony for the</div>
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beginning of works on a two turbine, 2,000 shareholder <span style="color: #1c35ea;">community-owned wind farm </span>at</div>
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Leonards Hill, near Daylesford. Banners with "Wind farms make me sick" were prepared</div>
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and some 50 people (mostly out of towners) attended the protest, which was reported in</div>
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the local press.</div>
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In November, Laurie was reported in local newspaper The Advocate as saying "If I were</div>
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living right there I would be very concerned. I would be beside myself..." Scary stuff.</div>
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In early December 2010, the president of the Landscape Guardians told the Australian</div>
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"I've been on medication for the last five years just fighting this." The wind farm had not</div>
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even opened but the president was already worried sick.</div>
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In mid August 2011, the Ballarat Courier reported that Leonards Hill received its first</div>
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health complaint from a 57-year-old woman with sleep problems. She described the sound</div>
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of the two turbines, half a kilometre away, as at times "like a jet engine". (Like hundreds</div>
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of thousands of Sydney residents, I've lived right under the Sydney fight path for 22 years,</div>
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and I've spent time around wind farms. The comparison is nothing less than ludicrous).</div>
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The next day, the Landscape Guardians president went public as the second health</div>
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complainant about the wind farm.</div>
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Those who study the dynamics of psychogenic illness place the communication of scary</div>
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information front and centre of this psychogenic/nocebo process. Early next year, a leading</div>
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international psychology journal will publish findings of a study that will add important</div>
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new evidence to this debate.</div>
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The study took healthy volunteers and exposed some to information from the internet</div>
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designed to prime them to expect that infrasound from wind farms could make them</div>
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experience symptoms. They labelled this group the "high expectations" group. Another</div>
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group were not exposed to such information (the "low expectations" group). Both groups</div>
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were then exposed in a laboratory to both real and "sham" (fake) infrasound. The high</div>
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expectation group reported a significant increase in symptoms during both exposure</div>
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sessions, while there was no increase in symptoms reported in the low expectation group.</div>
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In Canada an <span style="color: #1c35ea;">anti-wind farm group </span>took a wind company to a local tribunal, with a</div>
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cavalcade of complainants emotionally detailing their health problems. The tribunal agreed</div>
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with the wind company that the medical records of all complainants going back a decade</div>
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should be presented. These would reveal how many of the victims had a prior history of</div>
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the problems they now complained about. The case then collapsed, with the complainants</div>
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protesting that this was too onerous a requirement.</div>
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All social groups, workplaces and organisations have individuals with reputations for</div>
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whinging and negativity. So perhaps unsurprisingly, a recent <span style="color: #6c3198;">British study </span>found that</div>
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"negative orientated personality" traits predicted unexplained non-specific symptoms</div>
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among residents near a wind farm, and not actual noise.</div>
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Ten years ago, the <span style="color: #1c35ea;">media was full of anxiety </span>that mobile telephone towers would bring</div>
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down plagues of diseases on those around them. Local governments passed nonsensical</div>
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regulations allowing towers on factory roofs, but nowhere near sporting fields, schools or</div>
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even nursing homes (where most residents had highly limited life expectancy anyway).</div>
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The predicted epidemics of brain cancer never happened, there are more mobile phones</div>
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than Australian residents and the anxiety disappeared.</div>
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Todays's expected report will contain the equivalent nonsense about wind farms. It will</div>
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make interesting reading 10 years from now.</div>
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<i>Simon Chapman is professor of public health at the University of Sydney. He tweets</i></div>
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<span style="color: #1c35ea;"><i>@simonchapman6</i></span><i>. View his full profile </i><span style="color: #1c35ea;"><i>here</i></span><i>.</i></div>
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© 2012 ABC</div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-9375798053026017062012-11-27T12:34:00.000-05:002012-11-27T12:34:38.944-05:00Nepean MP hijacks Jubilee Medal program to push political agenda <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4BvhVAVKOiW1MNcUojUWBVDil7bAKr5jTwb-qsZjHvJ8EbvlfMYB5b3axb4T8mFr5Haf-EFlT-06YK3FMRFjN-ulUsIMw7fIoCmwC6wbIQxAaHcEC-xhqWBNiMHCAH0PcbtoQz4jgVc/s1600/JubileeMedalNov22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4BvhVAVKOiW1MNcUojUWBVDil7bAKr5jTwb-qsZjHvJ8EbvlfMYB5b3axb4T8mFr5Haf-EFlT-06YK3FMRFjN-ulUsIMw7fIoCmwC6wbIQxAaHcEC-xhqWBNiMHCAH0PcbtoQz4jgVc/s320/JubileeMedalNov22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Source: http://www.pierremp.ca/news/</div>
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On November 22, 2012 Nepean MP Pierre Poilievre presented four Diamond Jubilee Medals. </div>
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The <a href="http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14019"><span style="color: blue;">Diamond Jubilee Medal</span></a> was struck to commemorate the Queen's 60th anniversary of her accession to the Throne. Nominations are handled by Members of Parliament, Provincial Lieutenant Governors and Premiers; plus a number of Non-Governmental agencies.</div>
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This presentation, at Kars, ON (a small village in the MP's riding) carried the theme of honouring <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.pierremp.ca/poilievre-honours-four-rural-champions-with-diamond-jubilee-medals/"><span style="color: blue;">"rural champions"</span></a>.</span> Those rural champions deservedly included Glenn Brooks (a local municipal official who served for over a decade and advocated for farmers), Paul Mussell (a local comedian who pokes fun at rural life) and Mrs. Marion Newman (a local teacher who volunteered to promote <i>Agriculture in the Classroom</i>). </div>
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<b>Unfortunately one of the medals was tarnished by being awarded to an anti-wind activist via a number of her political allies.</b></div>
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Jane Wilson, the recipient, is (or certainly was) Chairperson of the North Gower Wind Action Group ever since a <a href="http://www.prowind.ca/?page=projects-marlborough"><span style="color: blue;">project </span></a>was proposed in her area. She is the current head of the anti-wind group Wind Concerns Ontario.</div>
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Lisa MacLeod is the MPP for the riding. It appears that MacLeod is part of a PC campaign to take Ontario's energy system back to the virtual stone ages. It is now PC Leader Hudak's <a href="http://www.ontariopc.com/media/2012/11/Tim-Hudak-Speech-to-Organization-of-CANDU-Industries-CHECK-AGAINST-DELIVERY.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">stated policy</span></a> to place nuclear energy over any other sources of electrical power generation in Ontario, while reversing all advances in renewable energy by repealing the Green Energy Act . They intend to replace renewable energy with nuclear power based on a lop-sided tender. Nuclear supplier 1 would compete with nuclear supplier 2 but neither would be required to compete with wind, gas, hydro or solar - because nuclear would lose every time based on cost and risk. </div>
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Put another way, nuclear would be guaranteed a price premium that ratepayers would be required to pay for decades. Even as the whole world turns away from ridiculously expensive nuclear power (not to mention safety issues revealed by Fukushima), the PC's want to return to the 1970's.</div>
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Pierre Poilievre is the MP for Ms. Wilson's riding. He was somewhat late into the wind turbine fray but joined on when the federal Conservatives's joined in the provincial anti-wind fight a few years ago. At some point, the provincial PC's and federal Conservatives in Ontario realized that they had a common cause. They could disrupt the provincial Liberals' wind file. Perhaps these Conservative ties also had a hand in Health Canada's unprecedented $2 million study on the possible health effects of wind turbines, even though <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/publications/WindHealthReviews.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">17 other studies</span></a> had found no connection. For their own purposes, they ignored the fact that the University of Waterloo had been conducting an identical study for many months in Ontario. </div>
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Mr. Poilievre maintains a website. Here are some examples of how the three have collaborated:</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">July 16, 2012</span><span style="color: #023472;">:</span> <a href="http://www.pierremp.ca/poilievre-macleod-call-for-a-moratorium-on-north-gower-industrial-wind-turbines/"><span style="color: blue;">Poilievre, MacLeod call for a moratorium on North Gower industrial wind turbines</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">July 16, 2012</span><span style="color: #023472;">:</span> <a href="http://www.pierremp.ca/put-the-brakes-on-the-north-gower-wind-turbines/"><span style="color: blue;">Put the Brakes on the North Gower Wind Turbines</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">August 17, 2012:</span><span style="color: #023472;"> </span><a href="http://www.pierremp.ca/marlborough-moratorium-makes-cents/"><span style="color: blue;">Marlborough Moratorium Makes Cents</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Plus this article from EMC Manotick dated August 23, 2012:</span> <a href="http://www.emcmanotick.ca/20120823/news/Poilievre+launches+petition+to+stop+wind+turbine+project"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.emcmanotick.ca/20120823/news/Poilievre+launches+petition+to+stop+wind+turbine+project</span></a></div>
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What this constitutes is an unholy alliance of the federal Conservatives and provincial PC's and Wind Concerns Ontario, at the very least in Nepean. The provincial PC's played off the NIMBY attitudes of urban weekenders who threw their farmer neighbours under the bus. The federal Conservatives also threw their farmer constituents under the same bus. In the picture below, you'll see a small bunch of wind protesters plus their MPP, Lisa MacLeod (left, in the black suit with the capri slacks), their MP Pierre Poilievre (centre, in the open neck blue shirt holding the sign) and Jane Wilson (right, in the black top and slacks). We suspect that there weren't a lot of local farmers in the picture (farmers seldom wear sandals), plus farmers like the fact that turbines provide income and don't disrupt farm operations.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHiiobsu1MDl6sSiHfdEaKB4GvXLDZQcm2Z2Cbq-mlW99clGUxHoelQ-fHlOGAgo8GQ4thK5TIqNrqDJ3s3CoU3ys8OMzAJYrfGkwIrzLXFOhsSHex3VMpcAZku3VgCX1u7GKkiYKthsI/s1600/moratorium-mid-res-0076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHiiobsu1MDl6sSiHfdEaKB4GvXLDZQcm2Z2Cbq-mlW99clGUxHoelQ-fHlOGAgo8GQ4thK5TIqNrqDJ3s3CoU3ys8OMzAJYrfGkwIrzLXFOhsSHex3VMpcAZku3VgCX1u7GKkiYKthsI/s320/moratorium-mid-res-0076.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Source: http://www.pierremp.ca/news/</div>
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<b>We don't think that a Commonwealth Medal should be so brazenly exploited politically.</b> </div>
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This is especially true with a medal that typically celebrates genuine volunteerism towards the most vulnerable members of society. And, whether they want to accept it or not, Wilson and her anti-wind gaggle do not qualify as vulnerable members of society. Thousands of rural Ontarians are lined up to participate in the clean energy economy; hundreds of farmers are staying on family land thanks to the clean energy economy; and dozens of rural communities have seen millions of dollars in much-needed economic benefits thanks to the clean energy economy.</div>
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There are so many people who are investing their reputations and their personal finances to advance renewable energy - including most of the country's top banks. Developers risk hundreds of millions of dollars in projects based on a 20 year contract with the Ontario people. They get paid off the meter, i.e. by the kWh. If they spend too much on their projects, if they misgauge the energy potential of their site or if their technology under performs, they take the hit and go bankrupt. </div>
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This is in stark contrast with nuclear operators who receive forgiveness when their projects go over budget - and they go over budget EVERY SINGLE TIME. Ontario is still paying off their stranded debt .</div>
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In our opinion, it's the real risk-taking pioneers, the landowners, the developers and the municipal leader and politicians who have stepped forward to clean up this province's ancient electricity system who deserve the Medal. They bring much to the rural economy - in fact, they have saved many family farms and <a href="http://www.canwea.ca/pdf/canwea-factsheet-economic-web-final.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">contributed income</span></a> to rural economies. </div>
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What have wind opponent's done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, other than creating hysteria and political mischief. And yet they get a medal. </div>
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What's wrong with this picture?</div>
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Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-1057877747150064962012-11-25T20:35:00.000-05:002012-11-25T20:37:51.352-05:00A little turbine eye candy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5K4bSHHWsek-_Mfy9VeVKkj_Kr9RneWum0R-PUED9zxDG7P3AuFsHwvSgAYW_SPgHNAKtXSrOJ9jMk-BrNw_Eb2mnP9AQMc_TzWmv7ESwWrID__6NSfurRsDKJeUJcw5NV1oGYc_FUc/s1600/5655826222_64c71ba4f7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5K4bSHHWsek-_Mfy9VeVKkj_Kr9RneWum0R-PUED9zxDG7P3AuFsHwvSgAYW_SPgHNAKtXSrOJ9jMk-BrNw_Eb2mnP9AQMc_TzWmv7ESwWrID__6NSfurRsDKJeUJcw5NV1oGYc_FUc/s320/5655826222_64c71ba4f7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This beautiful picture, posted by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruxelles5/5655826222/"><span style="color: blue;">Anna Paulowna on Flickr</span></a> illustrates how wind turbines fit into the rural landscape. If you look closely, you'll see that here are plenty of residences quite close to the turbine sites. Startling colours, geometric precision and responsible energy production courtesy of the Dutch.<br />
<br />Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-29503137394026857882012-11-18T08:30:00.000-05:002012-11-18T08:30:04.890-05:00Diagnosing Ontario’s Christmas Pony Syndrome<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7tj4if-P-j5VS5_D2bpt4Yz_G3BPmTXRrLpqSNzPzrA_-fNoU3_rH2xnIHGgs8UTdOi18IznPEDNBBnsbsdc_qD4lP82EBHOf1mu5OGUwq1aR2lE7HYO38NfqAlTuku7XwzWpCgOqrg/s1600/Christmas+Pony+WPpv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7tj4if-P-j5VS5_D2bpt4Yz_G3BPmTXRrLpqSNzPzrA_-fNoU3_rH2xnIHGgs8UTdOi18IznPEDNBBnsbsdc_qD4lP82EBHOf1mu5OGUwq1aR2lE7HYO38NfqAlTuku7XwzWpCgOqrg/s1600/Christmas+Pony+WPpv.jpg" /></a></div>
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Paul McKay</div>
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November 07, 2012</div>
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<a href="http://www.paulmckay.com/2012/11/07/diagnosing-ontario%E2%80%99s-christmas-pony-syndrome/">http://www.paulmckay.com/2012/11/07/diagnosing-ontario’s-christmas-pony-syndrome/</a></div>
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The 19<span style="font-size: 12px;"><sup>th</sup></span> Century American writer Henry James once acidly observed that many people believe they are thinking when they are in fact merely re-arranging their prejudices. He could have been talking about electric power politics in modern Ontario, where a pernicious, widely prevalent belief which defies all facts is hiding in plain sight. It is this:</div>
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For the past century, our politicians, the press, captains of industry, and the public have almost universally assumed – with the certainty of a deeply embedded prejudice – that we are entitled to cheap, reliable, abundant power that miraculously appears at the flick of a switch from some distant, benign source. By “cheap” I mean a price far below the actual cost of production and delivery.</div>
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Indeed, when Ontario’s charismatic crusader Adam Beck launched what became North America’s first public electric utility a century ago, he assured rapt audiences from Niagara Falls to northern Ontario that an “Electric Aladdin” would instantly appear to fulfil each and every consumer wish. Better still, Beck vowed, future prices would inevitably, magically <i>descend</i> in inverse relation to how much power consumption <i>climbed</i>.</div>
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Beck might as well have told his adoring audiences they could have all the cake they wanted, but eat it too, save money, and lose ten pounds in the bargain. What could be sweeter? For the next 80 years, Ontario’s power demand doubled every decade as each premier promised an electric future that looked like the electric past, except magnified in scale and minimized in price.</div>
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Huge hydro dams were constructed. Giant coal plants were commissioned, including the largest on the continent at Nanticoke. A fleet of reactors at Pickering, Bruce and Darlington was ordered at breakneck speed. But fatefully, the steeply escalating, highly debt-leveraged capital cost of each new reactor was only blended into the <i>average</i> system generation cost after it was built and started sending juice into the grid.</div>
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So the cost of the 20 new reactors was masked by cross-subsidies from six dozen older hydro-electric plants making penny-per kilowatt-hour power, and from cheap but filthy coal plants. And in true Ponzi scheme fashion, the day of debt interest reckoning was always pushed far into the future. All this meant the retail power “price signal” was always decades behind reality. What could be sweeter?</div>
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Ontario was still addicted to this fiscal confection when Mike Harris added another thick layer of alluring icing in 1995. He ran for premier on a public promise to freeze power rates for his entire term – without first daring to look at Hydro’s books. He won huge, and kept his word. Four years later our provincial utility effectively became bankrupt under the weight of $38 billion in publicly-owed debt.</div>
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It did not require a forensic accountant to discern that Ontario’s nuclear fleet – which then provided almost 70 per cent of grid energy – was the chief cause. Or that this vast debt grew because Ontario industries, commercial enterprises, and consumers were not being charged the actual cost of producing and delivering this new atomic power. In effect, Ontario Hydro’s business model was to lose money on every kilowatt-hour sold, then hope to make the losses up in volume.</div>
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So what was the response? The politicians, press and public simply re-arranged their prejudices. The $38 billion in Hydro debt was deftly scattered and buried in several government ledgers. For the next four years, precisely <i>none</i> of the stranded nuclear debt was paid down by the Harris government.</div>
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That meant cumulative debts, interest payments and peak electric demand climbed <i>further. </i>Worst of all, the resulting low-ball power rates postponed energy efficiency investments at heavy industries, office towers, factories, farms, hospitals and homes. At the same time, spending on transmission and distribution upgrades and maintenance was cut to the bone. That left every power user exposed to future rate hikes, and grid breakdowns.</div>
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Then the blackout of August, 2003 rocked the province. Ten lost days of productivity cost the province an estimated $6.4 billion, largely because our vaunted nuclear fleet was acutely vulnerable to a cascading series of grid failures that began in Ohio. They were among the first to fail, and the last to come back on line.</div>
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Fast forward to the 2011 election. Premier McGuinty set the bar by announcing a $1 billion per year plan to subsidize the subsidies already embedded in consumer power bills. Large industries got their own sweet $450 million “rebate” deal. But this was petty political potatoes for Tim Hudak, who vowed to return the province to the “cheap” good old days when Ontario Hydro blithely borrowed billions to build nuclear plants, and ran filthy old coal plants flat out. Andrea Horwath vowed to cut everyone’s power bills further, with a package of just-in-time promises couriered in from Never-Never Land.</div>
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I recite this brief history because in my view it shows that the biggest obstacle to attaining the 21<span style="font-size: 12px;"><sup>st</sup></span> Century power system Ontario needs is the century-old culture of feckless flummery embedded in our political discourse, our civic mindset, our power sector bureaucracies and unions, our large industry lobby groups, and the press and pundit class.</div>
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For those wishing a rough translation of “feckless flummery” think of the “emperor has no clothes” parable. Only in this case, it is our electric <i>empire</i> no one wants to say is naked, or broke in every sense of the word. So here is the main political problem, plain and simple:</div>
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Ontario is addicted to being promised cheap, instantaneous, risk-free, reliable power. Despite easily available evidence proving this is akin to promising every child a pony for Christmas, virtually all our politicians cravenly comply during each election cycle. In recent times, the only honourable exception has been Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.</div>
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Yet every place in North America or Europe, with a comparable nuclear-heavy generation mix, charges far higher prices for power than Ontario. In virtually all cases, the utilities there also have high debt levels, and poor reliability records. Worse, as the reactors age these problems magnify.</div>
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Ontario is not exempt from this reality. Even the <i>best</i> station in our nuclear fleet, Darlington, proves the point. It was originally slated to cost $3.4 billion, but went almost $11 billion over budget and took a decade longer to build than planned. These costs were originally justified on the basis of a 30-year asset life and amortization. But remarkably that has since been stretched – just like Pinocchio’s nose – to 40, then 50, then 60 years by OPG accountants.</div>
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Nobody at the time mentioned that mid-life Darlington reactor pressure tube transplants would cost at least another $10 billion, leave four 850 Mw units comatose for several years each, and compel consumers to pay premium prices for prodigious amounts of replacement power.</div>
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Worse, no impartial authority has calculated how many billions more it will cost to de-commission 20 fiercely radioactive reactors at Pickering, Bruce and Darlington once they are retired. But Hydro-Quebec’s estimated cost of dismantling its <i>single</i> CANDU reactor during the next 50 years is $1.8 billion.</div>
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So just dismantling the Ontario reactors may cost almost $40 billion. It will cost untold billions more to dispose of the latently lethal nuclear wastes the Ontario reactors will produce. Meanwhile, during the past 12 years Ontario ratepayers have paid $20 billion to service the $20 billion stranded nuclear debt that was due on Mike Harris’ watch. Some $12 billion still remains owing, and likely won’t be paid down until 2018 at the earliest.</div>
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You don’t need to take my word that this has put our provincial utility, once again, at the edge of a fiscal cliff. An April, 2012 analysis by Standard and Poors concluded OPG’s bonds would be rated ‘bbb’ – that’s barely above junk status – if repayment was not guaranteed by the province. Yet the province itself has been threatened with downgrades by credit rating agencies because of a long-term debt exceeding $270 billion, and a current annual deficit of $14.4 billion.</div>
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So this is like Portugal promising to cover off the debts of Greece. Yet astoundingly, the province is on the verge of allowing OPG to borrow and spend $26 billion <i>more</i> on new nuclear plants, despite a baseload surplus, despite no transparent, contractually binding “all in” cost quote from sole supplier SNC-Lavalin, and despite the harrowing lesson of Fukushima.</div>
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It took such a tragic, costly event for the Japanese political system, its press, and the public to see the hidden dangers of reliance on a power technology which merely appears to be the cheaper choice. In no small irony, Japan has recently replicated Ontario’s feed-in- tariff model to help salvage its crippled power system and economy with green power. In the first few months, an estimated $2 billion was committed to build new green generation there, including 1,000 Mw of approved solar projects.</div>
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The Japanese too suffered from an addiction to unexamined prejudices, including the fiction that atomic power and its apostles could deliver cheap power. No 21<span style="font-size: 12px;"><sup>st</sup></span> century power technology can. Every one is expensive. Some generation is expensive and safe. Some is expensive and latently lethal. Some technologies put all the costs and risks on current consumers, while others dump them on our grandchildren. Some rely on tiny but explicit subsidies, some on huge covert subsidies.</div>
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The question is: Will deception, dissembling and debt evasion remain normalized? Or will our politicians dare to start telling the truth about this in public, and thereby put a higher value on both electricity <i>and</i> civic honesty?</div>
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Only then will Ontario start actually thinking with clarity about how to build a sound 21<span style="font-size: 12px;"><sup>st</sup></span> century power system, instead of re-arranging reckless prejudices falsely packaged as prudent planning.</div>
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QUOTE FROM DBRS REPORT NOV 2/2012</div>
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<i>RISING POLITICAL PRESSURE COULD INCREASE CREDIT RISK GOING FORWARD</i></div>
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<i>After years of a relatively stable political and regulatory environment, the utility sector in Ontario could face growing challenges. As generation costs potentially rise above and ultimately test the political ceiling (10% increase of the total bill annually), it may be difficult for the utilities to pass these costs onto the ratepayers. As a result, the following are possible negative outcomes: (1) a rate freeze whereby incremental costs are not recovered or (2) costs that could only be recovered over a long period of time. In either event, profitability for the regulated utilities would be impacted and could result in a negative rating action</i></div>
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<b>Paul McKay</b></div>
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Mr. McKay is the author of "Electric Empire: The Inside Story of Ontario Hydro" and six other books, and was the 1990 recipient of the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy.</div>
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He produced a Toronto Star series on national environment issues, worked as senior policy advisor to the Ontario Minister of Energy (1990-91) and was a director of IPPSO from 1992 to 1997.</div>
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He is also a green power project developer (small hydro and solar) , an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environment and energy, the 2005 recipient of the Pierre Berton writer-in-residence program, and a past director of OSEA.</div>
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Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-28122046348039550112012-11-17T22:02:00.000-05:002012-11-17T22:02:41.127-05:00You're out of touch with reality ....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibecjqOWDcyD2IrQ6npnpQ3o9UTdJgQbPjDSuqSJM8VIz4jZuzQlF75N2DEX9eljL9PbaKv2l1CjuBtYEP6SN6_gokLUaO5tJfK6kE3KxgWPlXDAOySMcyy39tFmHCEJemRtn5NVqPbJk/s1600/colb-mnn_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibecjqOWDcyD2IrQ6npnpQ3o9UTdJgQbPjDSuqSJM8VIz4jZuzQlF75N2DEX9eljL9PbaKv2l1CjuBtYEP6SN6_gokLUaO5tJfK6kE3KxgWPlXDAOySMcyy39tFmHCEJemRtn5NVqPbJk/s320/colb-mnn_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
...when Steven Colbert covers you in <i>The Colbert Report</i>. Steven talks about Wind Turbine Syndrome in this broadcast from November 7, 2012.<br />
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Click <a href="http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip802020"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a> or go to <a href="http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip802020" style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank">http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip802020</a>.<br />
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<br />Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-1583620278145733872012-11-17T08:54:00.000-05:002012-11-17T08:54:37.123-05:00Industrial strength dog whistle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3JtJUGifdvJFLBCB7qAzURR3lHdD3vrDP9B7szQjdDZKGaq4fRFScfg2SKqVzohG1-fuErlVKvr3jqjSKvLmSAllRcWNQHoNOI6P8lVuyV4c4oMOWxK9E4rl-kMusTVCTgbLYyrtFII/s1600/dog-whistle-T1bbc.png.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3JtJUGifdvJFLBCB7qAzURR3lHdD3vrDP9B7szQjdDZKGaq4fRFScfg2SKqVzohG1-fuErlVKvr3jqjSKvLmSAllRcWNQHoNOI6P8lVuyV4c4oMOWxK9E4rl-kMusTVCTgbLYyrtFII/s320/dog-whistle-T1bbc.png.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
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A dog whistle is a signal that ordinary humans can't sense because its frequency is above normal hearing. It's also a signal used in political campaigns to denote subtle messages being transmitted to bigoted voters.<br />
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In the wind turbine news arena, the term "industrial" is the dog whistle of wind opponents. "Industrial" is never used in scientific literature although it's being introduced into the faux scientific literature.<br />
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Where did the term "industrial" originate as an adjective for wind turbines? Was it the Press? Or the scientific community?<br />
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No.<br />
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It was the result of a series of focus groups financed by one of the Koch brothers as part of his opposition to a proposed offshore wind project near Cape Cod.<br />
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According to E&E Publishing, September 24, 2007, in an article regarding the Industrial Wind Action Group (IWA):<br />
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Money matters</i></h3>
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<i>One of the biggest and best-funded wind-power opponents is a NIMBY group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which was founded in 2001 to oppose Cape Wind, a 130-turbine project to be sited about five miles off Cape Cod.</i></div>
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<i>In 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, the alliance took in almost $3.3 million in donations, including $1.1 million from oil magnate Bill Koch, the founder and president of the Oxbow Group, a holding company focused on energy development. The alliance employs four lobbying firms, spends about a third of its take on legal fees, pays its president $114,000, and just opened an office in Washington to lobby during the federal review process.</i></div>
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<i>Freelance journalist Wendy Williams, co-author of a book about the Cape Wind fight, said IWA's focus on the word "industrial" was drawn from the Nantucket Sound alliance. "The phrase 'industrial' was the direct result of focus groups," she said. "It frightened people who thought they lived in a pristine environment."</i><br />
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Frightened. Just another component of the Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt campaign being waged by the wind opponents in Ontario.<br />
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Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-56444105503006956342012-11-16T12:14:00.000-05:002012-11-16T12:14:17.158-05:00More noise from Nissenbaum<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckp4S_LbcLSWGBtKZw1kAF0sTWHLjQ797e6P5c8Q728VTw7arXHOMwmrA2uueUPSPjyy5Rrr47CLrZdJvz2x-SdmDZYKBuz7xvX_alX3gpjRoVTSCyYKXknlIPVR_88tC0d1vLqqfoek/s1600/larg-wind-turbine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckp4S_LbcLSWGBtKZw1kAF0sTWHLjQ797e6P5c8Q728VTw7arXHOMwmrA2uueUPSPjyy5Rrr47CLrZdJvz2x-SdmDZYKBuz7xvX_alX3gpjRoVTSCyYKXknlIPVR_88tC0d1vLqqfoek/s320/larg-wind-turbine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;">The following is a <a href="http://www.quora.com/Wind-Power/A-study-in-Noise-and-Health-shows-that-wind-farms-cause-people-to-lose-sleep-How-reliable-is-this-study"><span style="color: blue;">post</span></a> on www.quora.com by Mike Barnard. It is referring to a recent <a href="http://www.noiseandhealth.org/text.asp?2012/14/60/237/102961"><span style="color: blue;">paper</span></a> by Nissenbaum, et al in the journal <i>Noise and Health. </i>The question being asked on Quora is "How reliable is this study?".</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Summary: Its reliability is very low. This is a flawed and misleadingly titled study by long-time anti-wind lobbyists.</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 5px 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">It mistakes correlation for causation, and overstates correlation</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">It downplays or ignores long-understood impacts of both bias and impacts of change in creating annoyance</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">There are significant unstated conflicts-of-interest, biases and allegiances to an anti-wind lobbyist group among the six authors and reviewers</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">One of the authors has been actively involved in creating anti-wind bias and annoyance in these sites for years</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">It should be considered against the 17 major world-wide reviews to date which have found no health impacts from wind generation.</li>
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<br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><ol style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 5px 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The study overstates causation and correlation, and understates the impact of bias of the studied groups.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />a. Nissenbaum et al are overstating the strength of the correlation that their data shows. In contrast to the conclusions, figures 1 and 2 show a very weak dose-response, if there is one at all. The near horizontal 'curve fits' and large amount of data scatter are indications of the weak relationship between sleep quality and turbine distance. The authors seem to use a low p-value as support for the hypothesis that sleep disturbance is related to turbine distance. A better interpretation of the p-value related to a near horizontal line fit would be that it suggests a high probability of a weak dose response. Correlation coefficients are not given but should have been to indicate the quality of the curve fits. Intrinsik points out an additional failing of the report:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
Although there was a statistically significant difference between the mean PSQI scores in the near (7.8) and far group (6.0), it is important to remember that both of these average scores are greater than 5, which would qualify both groups as “poor sleepers”. When one examines the reported “% of PSQI score >5” no statistical difference between the near and far groups was found (p=0.0745).</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />b. As the Intrinsik assessment points out:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
Given that the relationship between noise from wind turbines and health concerns is the fundamental premise of the study by Nissenbaum et al., it is surprising that the authors gave such little consideration to collection of actual sound data measurements at the study participant homes. The <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">use of post-hoc sound data, visually obtained from figures in reports, is not scientifically defensible and should not have been used to draw conclusion</b>s about the findings of the questionnaires with distance from turbine locations. [16]</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />c. Intrinsik also points out the misleading title of the study, another case of overstating conclusions available from the data:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
We also believe that the title of the paper “Effects <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health” </i>is not supported given the nature of the data presented. No evidence with respect to sound level (noise) and its effect on sleep and health has been presented in this paper [16]</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Given that the authors themselves admit that they can't construct a dose-response curve, their conclusion that wind farms affect sleep is surprising:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
In their paper Nissenbaum et al. state that noise emitted by IWTs can affect sleep. However, their results do not support this statement. In fact, the authors state that “The <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">data on measured and estimated noise levels were not adequate to construct a dose-response curve...” </i>and no statistical analyses were conducted to assess this supposed relationship. Therefore, we do not believe that Nissenbaum et al. (2012) show any statistical difference in overall “poor” sleep quality or sleepiness between the groups. [16]</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />d. The studied communities, via agitators such as Nissenbaum, have developed strong negative attitudes to wind farms. As this study shows, this is a much better predictor of the effects Nissenbaum is claiming than any actual noise from wind farms. [4] <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Intrinsik goes further and asserts the conclusion that the authors, if unbiased, would have found from the data, that the study groups were annoyed by changes in their environment and self-reported health impacts arose from annoyance with the change:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
The authors pointed out that visual cue and attitude towards wind turbines<i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“are known to affect the psychological response to environmental noise”.</i>While this may be true, visual cue and attitude by themselves have been shown to be stronger drivers of psychological responses than a wind-turbine specific variable like sound itself (e.g., Pedersen 2004). Therefore, a conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the self-reported health effects of people living near wind turbines can be likely attributable to physical manifestations from an annoyed state, rather than a wind-turbine specific factor like noise. <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Indeed, the weight of evidence in the wind turbine and human health literature points to a causal relationship between self-reported health effects and annoyance, which is to say annoyance brought on by the change in the local environment</b>(i.e., a decrease in amenity) that wind turbines represent (Knopper and Ollson 2011). [16]</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />e. The authors' treatment of bias is poor, stating without evidence that accounting for selection and reporting bias would make their conclusions stronger, not weaker.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />f. The sample size is small as is the control group (many studies have small sample sizes; this makes this less authoritative, not worthless in and of itself.)<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The study group has undisclosed biases influenced by one of the authors.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />This is not Nissenbaum's first study of the Mars Hill or the Vinalhaven wind farms. He ran studies there in 2010 and 2011 as well, using a format pioneered by anti-wind folks in the UK and then by Nina Pierpont, creator of Wind Turbine Syndrome. [3], [9] The a-scientific studies are so poorly constructed that they are guaranteed to make people ascribe new symptoms to wind turbines, and to take completely ignored minor symptoms and turn them into major complaints. These studies have pre-loaded the biases of these study groups, making it difficult to accept the the conclusions of this better structured study. The data this study is based upon is not new data, but data that was obtained several years ago that has been presented at the ICBEN conference in London (UK) over a year ago and has been presented as part of anti-wind farm submissions, which is not unusual, but the data and the conclusions Nissenbaum et al have been putting forward has been strongly criticized in the past. [10] For example, a 2012 Massachusetts expert panel had this to say about the conclusions:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
<i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">details of how homes were identified, how many homes/people were approached, and differences between those who did and did not participate are important to know. Without this, attributing any of the observed associations to the wind turbines (either noise from them or the sight of them) is premature. [16]</i></blockquote>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The authors' pre-existing bias is not disclosed or accounted for.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Jeffery Aramini is the person most often interviewed in newspaper reports but the study is co-authored with Michael Nissenbaum and Christopher Hanning. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />a. Aramini has maintained a lower profile than Nissenbaum and Hanning, but is on the Advisory Group of an anti-wind lobbyist group, Wind Vigilance. [11] <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />b. Nissenbaum is a long-time anti-wind activist and also a member of the Advisory Group of Wind Vigilance. [1] <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />c. Hanning is a long-time anti-wind activist as well, who has been writing anti-wind papers that have not been able to get into even low-impact, peer-reviewed journals and is also on the Advisory Group of Wind Vigilance.[2] [12] <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Fronting with the lower profile Aramini in newspaper interviews appears to be a convenient way to disguise the deep and long-standing bias of the authors.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The authorial bias can easily be detected by the inappropriate use of the emotionally laden "industrial wind turbine", a term which was selected and focussed grouped by anti-wind lobbying organizations associated with the Koch Brothers.[14] Neutral language includes "wind turbine" and "wind turbine generator". <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The thanked reviewers have unstated biases and conflicts-of-interest as they are paid anti-wind experts who have a long history of directly testifying against wind energy.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />a. Carl Phillips is relatively new to this group, having been asked to leave his post at an Alberta university for taking tobacco industry money and remarkably finding that tobacco products were much less harmful than people thought.[6] He has found a new source of funds in anti-wind lobbying. As he says on his blog, Ep-Ology:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
I knew what answer I was going to present from the start. So when I wrote my COI [conflict of interest] statement, I did not hesitate to describe, matter-of-fact, that I do work as a testifying expert on behalf of communities fighting the siting of local wind turbines.</blockquote>
b. Rand not only testifies, his firm gains revenue from measuring sound near wind farms for complainants and to assist litigation. [7] Rand, in any event, <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />c. James has been testifying for fee against wind farms since 2006.[8] <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Phillips and James are both members of the Advisory Group of Wind Vigilance as well. The three thanked are bolstering their court room pitches, and cannot be considered credible unbiased assessors. If they are the only peer reviewers, this is grounds for retraction. As their conflicts and pre-existing biases are unstated, this too is grounds for serious concern.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Noise and Health is a rarely referenced journal of low impact.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The journal, Noise and Health has a very low impact index of 1.2, meaning that few researchers reference their studies; there can be a variety of reasons for this including poor quality or trivial papers. [5] The journal may not have sought independent reviewers who would have pointed out the flaws in the article, but may have accepted the reviewers that came with the article as suggestions. If the journal did not gain separate review, this is a reason for retraction in and of itself.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wind Vigilance, on whose Advisory Group five of six authors and reviewers sit, has been promoting wind health issues in the absence of peer-reviewed evidence and against 17 major studies' findings for years. </b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />As Wind Vigilance is a central theme to this, it would be useful to understand their positions and the degree of evidence behind them:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(208, 229, 242); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 3px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">
Based on a review of the evidence, the Society for Wind Vigilance is satisfied that there is a <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">significant probability of adverse health effects for human subjects living within 2.0 km</b> of land based <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">industrial wind turbines</b>. The Society for Wind Vigilance recognizes the urgent need for further human health research to finalize guidelines for siting and noise levels that will protect human health. In the interim the Society for Wind Vigilance recommends that land based industrial wind turbines be sited a minimum of 2 km from the property line of non participating residents. <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Distances greater than 2 km will typically be required for special terrain such as turbines on ridges and offshore turbines.</b> [13]</blockquote>
<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Bolding is mine to indicate statements which require elaboration:<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />1. This statement was released April 2012, six months before the first peer-reviewed paper that found any issues with wind energy and health was published. In the meantime, 17 major reviews by independent and credible organizations worldwide of thousands of pieces of peer-reviewed research found no issue with wind energy and human health. On what grounds did Wind Vigilance make the assessment that all of the other studies and the vast majority of medical, engineering and acoustic professionals were wrong? On what grounds did they decide on 2 kilometers?<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />2. "Industrial wind turbines" is the preferred emotive phrasing of anti-wind lobbyists. It is not neutral language in this discussion, just as "wind farms" is the preferred emotive language of pro-wind advocates (including me). This language was created by lobbying organizations associated with the Koch Brothers and other astroturf funding undiversified fossil fuel organizations.[14]<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />3. The reasoning behind greater setbacks on ridges and lakes is not explained, but given the weakness of the rest of their position, it can only be to ensure that wind turbines will never be seen or heard. Obviously this is an extreme and foolish position.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />That five of six authors and reviewers of this paper are so tightly associated with an organization with such a strong and strident opposition to evidence-based siting guidelines and wind energy in general is indicative. That they do not make clear their association, their long-standing bias and their conflicts-of-interest is also indicative.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">17 major reviews have found no health impacts from wind energy</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />This single paper must be contrasted to the 17 (to-date) major reviews world-wide of hundreds or thousands of peer-reviewed articles related to wind energy, health and noise which have found no health impacts. All studies agree that a small subset of people very close to wind farms find the noise annoying. [15] The best consensus is that the vast majority of health complaints attributed to wind energy are the result of a psychogenic or communicated psychosomatic illness; people are making themselves sick when they are told that they will get sick. [15]</li>
</ol>
<br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Full disclosure. This assessment was developed with the assistance of:</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 5px 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Dr. David Perry -- Dr. Perry holds degrees in electrical engineering and neuroscience from The University of Melbourne and a PhD from the Bionics Institute examining how sound stimulation from a cochlear implant is represented in the brain. Dr. Perry is also on the Board of Directors of community-owned wind project Hepburn Wind in Australia.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Richard Mackie - Mr. Mackie is an Engineer with degrees from the University of Auckland and the Australian Graduate School of Management. He is Managing Director of Advanced Energy Consulting (Australia) which does work related to wind energy projects.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">The Intrinsik professional assessment upon which some of the comments are based was funded by CanWEA (Canadian Wind Energy Association).</li>
</ul>
<br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">References:</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[1] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.windvigilance.com/home/advisory-group/bio_nissenbaum" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dr. Michael A. Nissenbaum - The Society for Wind Vigilance<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (windvigilance.com)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[2] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://docs.wind-watch.org/Hanning-sleep-disturbance-wind-turbine-noise.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://docs.wind-watch.or<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>g/Hanni...</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[3] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=nissenbaum%20mars%20hill&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC4QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.windaction.org%2F%3Fmodule%3Duploads%26func%3Ddownload%26fileId%3D2043&ei=RzeVULiTDYGy2QXEpoHwAg&usg=AFQjCNHLopLcBGMgsKzhxKeL2QbR8V8GNQ&sig2=Uu5T1odRG-X0xq7qyoBtbw" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/url<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>?sa=t&r...</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[4] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886912004783" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.sciencedirect.<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>com/sci...</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[5] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.sciencegateway.org/rank/index.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Journal and Academic Rankings<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (sciencegateway.org)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[6] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2010/01/26/edmonton-tobacco-researcher-departs.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Tobacco researcher leaves U of A<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (cbc.ca)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[7] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://randacoustics.com/wind-turbine-sound/wind-turbines-published-articles/" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wind Turbines: Published Articles<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (randacoustics.com)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[8] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Wind-Power/Is-Dr-Nina-Pierpoints-Wind-Turbine-Syndrome-a-real-medical-syndrome-caused-by-wind-turbines/answer/Mike-Barnard" style="color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mike Barnard's answer to Wind Power: Is Dr. Nina Pierpoint's "Wind Turbine Syndrome" a real medical syndrome caused by wind turbines?</b></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[9] </b><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://docs.wind-watch.org/Hanning-Wind-Turbine-Noise-Sleep-and-Health-Report-Jul-2012.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">http://www.windaction.org<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>/documents/33057</b><span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (wind-watch.org)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[10] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/files/201107/00000300-AKT5757C7CO026-BGI54ED19RO026.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>files/2...</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[11] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.windvigilance.com/home/advisory-group/bio_aramini" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jeff Aramini, DVM, MSC, PHD - The Society for Wind Vigilance<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">(windvigilance.com)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[12] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.windvigilance.com/home/advisory-group/bio_hanning" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dr Chris Hanning - The Society for Wind Vigilance<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (windvigilance.com)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[13] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.windvigilance.com/news" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">News - The Society for Wind Vigilance<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (windvigilance.com)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[14] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2007/09/24/4" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Turbine foes try to forge national opposition movement<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (eenews.net)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[15] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.quora.com/Wind-Power/What-might-cause-people-who-live-near-wind-turbines-to-get-sick" style="color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Wind Power: What might cause people who live near wind turbines to get sick?</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[16] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.canwea.ca/pdf/Intrinsik-Review-of-Nissenbaum-2012.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.canwea.ca/pdf/<wbr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>Intrins...</a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Additional references:</b><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[1] Additional background on the authors and the nature of the preceding studies performed by Mr. Nissenbaum here: </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://bigcitylib.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-vet-radiologist-and-anaesthetist-walk.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A Vet, A Radiologist, And An Anaesthetist Walk Into A Scientific Controversy...<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (blogspot.ca)</span></a></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">[3] </span><span class="qlink_container" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="external_link" href="http://www.canwea.ca/media/release/release_e.php?newsId=165" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://d1vgw4v7ja2ido.cloudfront.net/-d00b84133c0b47df.gif); background-position: 100% 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #19558d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 12px 0px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Nissenbaum paper recycles claims on wind energy and health already found inadequate by courts and expert panel<span class="external_link_domain" style="color: #538dc2; font-size: 0.8em; margin: 0px -2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> (canwea.ca)</span></a></span><br /><span style="color: #19558d; font-family: Helvetica Neue;"><br /></span><ol><br />
</ol>
</div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-11657046986285995692012-10-31T15:38:00.000-04:002012-11-27T09:57:52.182-05:00For every appraisal there is an equal and opposite appraisal<!--[if !mso]>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qaI1cUuPT4x9ow8wabEHpv48cbyUIJ5KchAvk39KJvbv_zXcS9EI85Fh1Bfz074RTaO9RdWDwRAvU76_RUM5yXnS-DvJz8BMXFH_rr_jAT1sMbcDBHZiBZ-62OBb7AgKRO3N-ZnPLHo/s1600/250px-Skaters_showing_newtons_third_law.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qaI1cUuPT4x9ow8wabEHpv48cbyUIJ5KchAvk39KJvbv_zXcS9EI85Fh1Bfz074RTaO9RdWDwRAvU76_RUM5yXnS-DvJz8BMXFH_rr_jAT1sMbcDBHZiBZ-62OBb7AgKRO3N-ZnPLHo/s1600/250px-Skaters_showing_newtons_third_law.svg.png" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In the
last few weeks, Ben Lansink released two documents on the Wind Concerns Ontario
and Ontario Wind Resistance websites.
Mr. Lansink is an accredited appraiser and declares that his documents
have been published without prejudice and that they are fair, impartial
analyses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Other
than his accreditation, nothing could be further from the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">We'll
expose his bias in three sections:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> 1.
Motivation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> 2.
Data manipulation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> 3.
Omission of Press influence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1. Lansink's
motivation</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Mr.
Lansink's </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.lansinkappraisals.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">firm</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> specializes in creating evidence for law suits involving
perceived losses in property value.
It's called "diminution". It’s typically used in expropriation cases, where the
appellant is attempting to increase the payment for their property. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">According
to his website, "<i>Ben specializes in Diminution in Value analyses and
the resulting Injurious Affection. His assignments include proximity to
airports, hydro power transmission corridors, land fill sites, wind turbines,
roads and road works, as well as contaminated land and buildings including urea
formaldehyde foam insulation</i>".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">So, a
logical question might be, “Why would Mr. Lansink choose to perform all this
research and then initially publish it on the Ontario Wind Resistance and Wind
Concerns Ontario websites?” An impartial expert with solid balanced arguments might have
considered developing more traction by using either the mainstream press or
reputable academic journals or magazines to present his case.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The answer to this
question may come from the relationship between Mr. Lansink and Eric Gillespie,
and Mr. Gillespie’s relationship with wind opponents. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Eric Gillespie is the lawyer who has
acted for a host of wind opponents and is closely associated with Wind Concerns
Ontario (WCO). There have been a number of lawsuits launched recently by Mr.
Gillespie against wind developers and their hosting landowners; all of which
include property devaluation as part of the argument (e.g. Wiggins v. Fairview,
Norfolk Wind Concerns v. UDI Renewables, Parent v. River Canard Energy).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Eric
Gillespie and Ben Lansink appear to have assisted a common client in the past
(Red Hill Valley Neighbourhood Association) and Mr. Gillespie refers to
Lansink’s work in a letter to Canada’s Attorney General.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In
addition, at least one source has described Mr. Lansink's presentation to an
anti-wind group in which he confirmed his association with Mr. Gillespie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Given
this information it is reasonable to assume that Mr. Lansink’s report is
intended to support Mr. Gillespie’s initiatives in the courts and wind
opponents’ public position. Whether they are “fair and impartial” is another
question that may only be answered in the courts <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2. Lansink's
manipulation of data<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Mr.
Lansink appears to be selective with the limited data he uses in his case
studies and presents, as a basis for his conclusions, information from a few
isolated home sales. This
would be in contrast with following the most basic notions of random sampling
or full transactional analysis from which solid impartial experts typically
derive their conclusions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In <u>Melancthon</u>,
for example, he chooses five properties that were bought by a developer
(Canadian Hydro Developers - CHD) and then sold after the project was completed.
He cloaks those situations as a classic buy-resell case study and attempts to
create a valuation based on the following methodology:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 46.3pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Assume that the purchase price was at fair market value. In truth, CHD purchased all properties
at over 50% premium to market values – as represented by MPAC assessment data (Table
1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Table 1</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> <b>Sales price vs. assessment value for Lansink’s Melancthon properties (1<sup>st</sup>
sale)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 46.3pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Property<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sale
price<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sale
date<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Assessment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Assess.
Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Price/Assessment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$302,670<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">17aug2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$232,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$299,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">01jun2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$195,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.53<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$500,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">15nov2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$293,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.71<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$305,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">29dec2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$216,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.41<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$350,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">30oct2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$182,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.92<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Weighted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Average<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.57<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 46.3pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 46.3pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Source:
Lansink, MPAC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2.
Assign a price escalator from "comparable" markets - in this case the
greater Dufferin area. However,
the greater Dufferin area includes Orangeville, a market that's been on fire as
a sleeper for Toronto, as well as Amaranth, a sleeper for Orangeville. As a result, Lansink’s calculation of
the increase of value due to the passage of time may be aggressive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">3.
Assume that the properties were also sold at fair market value. In aggregate, this may be close to the
truth. CHD had used a number of the
properties for their project staff for a couple of years, lowering their cost
of housing staff and construction workers, versus hotel, motel and travel
alternatives. Once the project was
fully commissioned the operator had little on-going use for the properties and
sold them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In
three cases, the properties either sold at their asking price or close to their
assessed value (Table 2). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Table 2 Sales prices vs. assessment value for Lansink’s
Melancthon properties (2<sup>nd</sup> sale)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Property<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sale
price<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sale
date<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Assessment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Assess.
Year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Price/Assessment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$215,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">27mar2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$215,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">0.82<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$250,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">19jun2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$318,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">0.79<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$288,400<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">12nov2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$293,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2008*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">0.98*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$278,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">03aug2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$228,750<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.22<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$175,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">16sep2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">$173,334<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.01<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 56.1pt;" valign="top" width="56"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Weighted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Average<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.65pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 70.8pt;" valign="top" width="71"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 78.65pt;" valign="top" width="79"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 59.65pt;" valign="top" width="60"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.95pt;" valign="top" width="107"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">0.95<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Source:
Lansink, MPAC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">*
Assessment data not available for 2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Two
properties were likely sold below market value because of their uniquely heightened
association with wind turbines. Wind
opponents who used these transactions to create a firestorm of media coverage
that detailed their perceived health problems dramatically highlighted that
association. A search of the
seller’s name + wind on the Internet yields over 500 citations. One is actually used in the Lansink
document. Obviously, wind
opponents’ actions devalued these properties by their unsupported
statements. Selling that house
after such a mauling in the press would be like selling a haunted house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In
contrast, a search of the successful buyers’ names yields no mentions of any such
complaints.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">One
case study "analysis" is highly suspect. The original landowner was holding up an OMB hearing that
was ruling on CHD's project. In
the hearing, CHD had made adjustments to the project in accord with the concerns
of the municipalities and other landowners. For this particular landowner CHD agreed to purchase his
property (OMB PL0605653 Minutes of Settlement). The residence condition was deemed uninhabitable and was
subsequently demolished. This fact
was omitted in Lansink's appraisal.
He compares the above market price of the property when originally
purchased with the market value price of the raw land when it was subsequently
sold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Of
course, there remains the question about the hundred or so other transactions
that occurred in the area in that time frame. Those transactions were conventional single buyer-seller
transactions, much like those included in the following analysis, but they were
excluded for some reason. A
subsequent blog will explore these transactions in more detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">So, in
summary, the prices paid by CHD for these properties were sufficiently
over-market to negate <u>all </u>the claims of devaluation stated by Lansink,
and the sample used so small and selective that the conclusions drawn were
clearly biased and wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In <u>Clear
Creek</u>, Mr. Lansink chooses seven properties that were sold in the area of a
project. In contrast with his
previous methodology described above, only two were buy-sell situations. A number of obvious questions arise:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">1.
Were these the only properties sold? Were other properties, at similar
distances from turbines, sold in the area (e.g. Jacksonburg, Houghton Centre,
Hemlock)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> 2.
Is the residential price index for the broader county relevant to this group of
properties?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> 3.
Did wind opponents pollute their property values through their hysterical
reactions to the media?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">If
these properties are truly indicative of the nature of sales in the micro-area,
then there may be evidence of diminution.
However, this is another area that was ground zero for health effect
claims. A group called
"Norfolk Victims of Industrial Wind Turbines” had extensive press
coverage. A search for the leader
of the group ("stephana johnston"+wind) yields over 800
citations. As one commentator
noted, " </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">Also, Stephana Johnston, 81 has now guaranteed no one will
buy her house as she's publicly stated that the turbines make it impossible
[for her] to sleep there."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial;">We are analyzing the Clear Creek transactions and will publish more
conclusions in a further post.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">3. The
influence of media's amplification of wind opponent hysteria<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">A
number of independent appraisals were performed in the early to middle stages
of wind turbine development in Ontario, for example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> •
Stantec for Canadian Hydro Developers [Melancthon], 2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.3pt 56.65pt 85.0pt 113.35pt 141.7pt 170.05pt 198.4pt 226.75pt 255.1pt 283.45pt 311.8pt 340.15pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">• Blake,
Matlock & Marshal for Windrush Energy [Melancthon, East Luther], 2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> •
S. Rayner for Canadian Hydro Developers [Wolfe Island], 2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> •
University of Guelph Master of Science Thesis [Melancthon], 2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> •
Canning & Simmons for CanWEA [Chatham Kent], 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> •
Assessment Review Board ruling on Kenney property [Wolfe Island], 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Outside
of Ontario, a 2009 landmark study by the<span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2009/12/02/wind-power-property-values/"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: blue;">Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> found
that “Home sales prices are very sensitive to the overall quality of the scenic
vista from a property, but a view of a wind energy facility does not
demonstrably impact sales prices”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">All of
these studies found no significant reduction in property values before and
after the project was constructed.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">However,
as wind projects were proposed for cottage areas such as Prince Edward County,
the Huron coastline and Grey Highlands, opposition began to grow using bogus
logic, and biased media intensity increased. The umbrella organization Wind Concerns Ontario (WCO)
represented most, if not all, of the wind action groups (WAG's). WCO had sophisticated members and
access to professionals (e.g. PR, medical, legal, engineering, etc.) whose
cottages, in many cases, were located near these developments. Within a few months they had developed
a very sophisticated and effective PR campaign. However, in our opinion, these professionals took license
with their credentials by not disclosing their cottage locations and by posting
opinions that were frequently outside their training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">As an
illustration, a search in Google Trends for Ontario reveals a strong and
sustained campaign from early 2009 to the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Figure
1: Google Trends search for the term “wind concerns Ontario”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUL3eoO6tOVFVG-4f0J9VST3Hac1QKiQyQ38exOzPLnp9scmr2wr4yHVb063_Jc4P2yJHm2Ssfnri4to8o_dvPKI-6BNDTVxOhvuhETUe21rrKOqmp3zrr35QsVodBY7POy-yDedYUPE/s1600/Google+Trend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUL3eoO6tOVFVG-4f0J9VST3Hac1QKiQyQ38exOzPLnp9scmr2wr4yHVb063_Jc4P2yJHm2Ssfnri4to8o_dvPKI-6BNDTVxOhvuhETUe21rrKOqmp3zrr35QsVodBY7POy-yDedYUPE/s320/Google+Trend.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Source:
Google Trends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Since
these WAG's had no evidence that was specific to projects planned near them,
they shone a bright light on existing projects. Anyone with a complaint was sure to be introduced to
newspapers, television and radio; and invited to speak at scores of anti-wind
lectures throughout Ontario. As
noted earlier, some of those press mentions added up in the hundreds. Many of them, and their previously
unknown small community names (e.g. Melancthon, Ripley, Clear Creek, etc.)
became well known. It is
conceivable that this type of media coverage placed downward pressure on
property values in a few places.
In contrast, other projects built in the same time frame, such as
Chatham Kent and Prince garnered relatively few complaints and little press
coverage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In
subsequent legal challenges and Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) decisions
(almost totally represented by Eric Gillespie), not a single case has
substantiated any of the claims of adverse health effects. In fact, health claims seem to have
been removed from recent ERT's by the appellants. Importantly, in cases where residences were sold on the
market or purchased by developers and then re-sold, there has always been a willing
buyer and no media mentions of complaints of adverse health effects. Lansink suggests that those buyers have
been legally gagged, but no one is able to sign away their rights of redress
under common law. If they were provably
suffering, they would still have some form of recourse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: center; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">In
summary, Lansink's analysis appears to be significantly biased. While he may
turn up some isolated examples of property devaluation, Lansink has failed to
show that wind turbines have widespread negative impact on property values. Moreover, there is plenty of evidence
to demonstrate that those suffering from psychogenic symptoms (I.e. those that
originate in the mind) may have inadvertently been the root cause of their
loss. They certainly had lots of
help from hundreds of activists who used these people, described as "victims",
to keep proposed projects from their back yard. And, some of the media, sensing a good conflict, fanned the
flames.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-85369218000074147002012-09-17T15:15:00.001-04:002012-09-17T15:15:20.095-04:00A whiff of BS - an Ontario case study<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbo4QWKMt8oaqIvGnTyUGeUCEO8jBuSIifuq-LYEJMDGHWTNdE0O90AbRoT8kTR4uskf4vfFOBPYAu3byp2qrQOvM88r7dm1ICrZSdNj8Uo9f7_0SaHv7WbX4PRuIstXipub4WWAC6vD8/s1600/No_Bullshit.jpg.scaled500-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbo4QWKMt8oaqIvGnTyUGeUCEO8jBuSIifuq-LYEJMDGHWTNdE0O90AbRoT8kTR4uskf4vfFOBPYAu3byp2qrQOvM88r7dm1ICrZSdNj8Uo9f7_0SaHv7WbX4PRuIstXipub4WWAC6vD8/s1600/No_Bullshit.jpg.scaled500-300x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
warrenkinsella.com<br />
<br />
September 17, 2012<br />
Warren Kilsella<br />
<br />
To read the original blog, click <a href="http://warrenkinsella.com/2012/09/a-whiff-of-political-b-s-an-ontario-case-study/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">here</span></a>.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
This morning, on the much-read National Newswatch, there was this headline:</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;">
“<a href="http://broadviewstrategygroup.com/blog/insights/ontariovotingintentions/"><b>NDP Surge to tie for First Place Provincially, Ontario Liberals In Third; 43% Want Liberal leadership review: Poll</b></a>“</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
When you click on the link, you are not taken to the web site of a news organization or a polling from. You are taken to something called the “Broadview Strategy Group,” trumpeting a “poll” by Forum Research.</div>
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The name “Forum Research” should ring a few bells. <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/07/political-polls--you-get-what-you-pay-for"><b>They were the firm that got the recent Alberta and Quebec elections wrong – and dramatically so.</b></a></div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
We are not told who ultimately paid for the “poll,” but the Broadview web site modestly indicates that the report on the poll was written by one John Laforet.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
When not working at his lobby firm – which, if you eyeball their web site, very much seems to be one guy, plus a receptionist – Laforet describes himself as a “volunteer” for something called Wind Concerns Ontario. <a href="http://warrenkinsella.com/articles/uncharitable/"><b>As I’ve written for the <i>Sun</i>, Wind Concerns is effectively an extension of the Conservative Party in Ontario. </b></a> As Metroland reported last September 8: Laforet and Wind Concern’s main objective is “defeating the McGuinty government and getting Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak elected Premier.” And, as Laforet said to the <i>Tillsonburg News</i> on August 24 of last year: ”The idea is to mobilize [supporters] to go door-to-door, supporting the Progressive Conservative candidate to defeat the Liberals.”</div>
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Fine. Laforet and his Wind Concerns aren’t shy: they’re an arm of the Ontario PCs. Good for them. But are they allowed to do that? <i>How</i> do they do that? Who pays the shots? Well, they’re set up as a non-profit, but not a charity – they don’t issue tax receipts, and the reason is that they don’t want to accept the limitations on political advocacy that being a charity entails. They’re open about this if you ask them.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
They say they’re funded entirely by donors, but there’s no disclosure of any sources of donations that anyone has been able to find. Unlike charities, there’s no public disclosure of their finances by Revenue Canada.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
Did Wind Concerns pay for the poll? Who knows. At a speech he delivered at the Empire Club in June of last year, Laforet was asked who funds Wind Concerns. Here’s what he said: ”Nobody funds Wind Concerns Ontario, which is why I’m a volunteer. Wind Concerns Ontario’s budget for 2010 was about $8,900.”</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
If all this seems rather suspicious to you, you’re not alone. To me, this morning’s innocuous headline has a bad, bad odour. Who paid Forum Research? Was it Broadview, which is led by a Liberal-hating Ontario PC fan? Or was it Wind Concerns, who supposedly have a budget of only a few thousand bucks?</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
And how did all of this end up on National Newswatch, which is – as noted – much-read and much-respected?</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
Good questions, all. But if you want to know why so many people increasingly consider our politics to be B.S., and why they are voting less and less – well, this is a good case study to ponder.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify;">
<b>UPDATE:</b> <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/17/ndp-support-soars-while-liberals-plummets-poll"><b>Note here.</b></a> Christina Blizzard has written a <i>column</i> about the issue, not (she emphasizes to me) a <i>news</i> story. I accept what she says, of course, but believe that Laforet’s background needs to be part of any straight-up news story or opinion column. But that’s just me. My apologies if I offended Chris!<a href="http://www.shareaholic.com/api/share/?title=A%20whiff%20of%20political%20B.S.%3A%20an%20Ontario%20case%20study%20%28updated%29&link=http://warrenkinsella.com/2012/09/a-whiff-of-political-b-s-an-ontario-case-study/&notes=This%20morning%2C%20on%20the%20much-read%20National%20Newswatch%2C%20there%20was%20this%20headline%3A%0D%0A%22NDP%20Surge%20to%20tie%20for%20First%20Place%20Provincially%2C%20Ontario%20Liberals%20In%20Third%3B%2043%25%20Want%20Liberal%20leadership%20review%3A%20Poll%22%0D%0AWhen%20you%20click%20on%20the%20link%2C%20you%20are%20not%20taken%20to%20the%20web%20site%20of%20a%20news%20organization%20or%20a%20polling%20from.%20%C2&short_link=&shortener=google&shortener_key=&v=1&apitype=1&apikey=8afa39428933be41f8afdb8ea21a495c&source=Shareaholic&template=&service=201&tags=&ctype="><b> </b></a></div>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #404d70; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 15.0px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-26592974742631684842012-09-04T18:56:00.001-04:002012-09-04T18:56:45.759-04:00You might like this.Here's a simple video that captures what we're trying to communicate.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_uSSkw48Hc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_uSSkw48Hchttp</a>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-2643393745846963122012-08-15T18:15:00.000-04:002012-08-15T18:15:06.821-04:00Doctors support turbines, criticize fossil, nuclear options<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8KMx3iZMJ0_UGmwsA6eJztGDZYJ6pt3xyEkPs-XZRx0f1fv634P6IbGhIw08fTUTu4QVQandpLNsTYa8bX3WQO3fFOW1aYgCMYbpbAOu_bxn-XPE8LUwppKe319J4gHJJIiK3COMhjc/s1600/doctors_nurses_support_green_energy_full-697x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8KMx3iZMJ0_UGmwsA6eJztGDZYJ6pt3xyEkPs-XZRx0f1fv634P6IbGhIw08fTUTu4QVQandpLNsTYa8bX3WQO3fFOW1aYgCMYbpbAOu_bxn-XPE8LUwppKe319J4gHJJIiK3COMhjc/s320/doctors_nurses_support_green_energy_full-697x1024.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
Orangeville Citizen</div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
August 09, 2012</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
By WES KELLER</div>
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Freelance Reporter</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px;">
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is describing Health Canada’s study of health impacts from wind turbines as “superfluous (and) a waste of time and a waste of public funds.”</div>
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“It’s curious Health Canada has taken an interest in studying the health impacts of something as benign as wind energy when for years health and environment experts have been cautioning about the negative impacts of fossil fuels on human health,” Farrah Khan of CAPE says.</div>
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CAPE says a 2010 Ontario study “reviewed 40 years of scientific research on wind turbines and human health.”</div>
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It noted that the report by Chief Medical Officer Arlene King report concluded that “the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.”</div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px;">
“She also found that ‘community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is important and may alleviate health concerns about wind farms.’ This puts any physiological impact from the very ordinary sound of a windmill into serious doubt.”</div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px;">
Community involvement was at the heart of the plan for what has become Dufferin Wind Power, originally totally owned by a group of Melancthon farmers and 401 Energy of Markham but now owned largely by a Chinese company.</div>
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Much of the criticism levelled by opponents of that development centres on foreign ownership, but the alleged health impacts haven’t been forgotten. Persons affected say they are genuinely ill since the advent of other wind farms in the area.</div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px;">
A question asked at a recent information meeting was, in effect, “If the turbines didn’t cause the illness, why did we become ill after they went into operation?”</div>
<div style="color: #232323; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 18.0px 0.0px;">
A multi-disciplinary study commissioned by the Canadian and American wind energy associations recently found that the most serious effect on nearby residents was “annoyance.” And the degree of annoyance was related to how the person felt about turbines prior to development.</div>
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On the other hand, according to CAPE, “Canada’s health community is shocked at the growing evidence of illness connected to the fossil fuels industry. In 2009, the Alberta Cancer Board reported cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, downstream from the tar sands, were 30 per cent higher than expected.”</div>
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CAPE quotes the Ontario Clean Air Alliance as saying that in 2009, coal plants in the province “were connected to 246 deaths, 342 hospital admissions, 406 costly emergency room visits and almost 123,000 illnesses such as asthma attacks.”</div>
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While turbine health impacts continue to be debated, CAPE says the health impacts of coal are a certainty.</div>
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It is also critical of the health risks posed by nuclear radioactive waste. “Spent fuel remains highly toxic and radioactive for thousands of years. But nuclear reactors, even in their normal day-to-day operations, emit radiation. A 2008 German government study found an elevated risk of leukemia for children living within five kilometres of the country’s 16 nuclear plants.”</div>
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Although preferring wind energy, CAPE acknowledges that any form of energy production inevitably has some negative impact on the plane, noting that wind turbines are not perfect, generate some sound and their appearance is not pleasing to everyone.</div>
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“But coal-fired generating stations, nuclear power plants and the tar sands all contribute to serious illness.</div>
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“We’re comparing a minor annoyance from the sound of blowing wind to the severity of cancer, asthma and brain damage. Our energy choices do impact our health and renewables like wind are our safest bets,” CAPE concludes.</div>
Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-90667754005088591762012-08-12T11:42:00.000-04:002012-08-12T11:42:02.476-04:00Time for a nuclear moratorium in Ontario<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two recent articles build the case for a moratorium on further nuclear investment in Ontario.<br />
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The <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/09/news/economy/nuclear-plants-waste/index.htm?iid=HP_LN&hpt=hp_t3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">first</span></a>, from Steve Hargreaves at CNNMoney covered the decision by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop issuing both new permits and license extensions. Even though the spent fuel characteristics of US and Canadian are different, the same question should be raised in Canada.<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. government said it will stop issuing permits for new nuclear power plants and license extensions for existing facilities until it resolves issues around storing radioactive waste.</span></i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i>The government's main watchdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, believes that current storage plans are safe and achievable. But a federal court said that the NRC didn't detail what the environmental consequences would be if the agency is wrong.</i></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">"We are now considering all available options for resolving the waste issue," the five-member NRC said in a ruling earlier this week. "But, in recognition of our duties under the law, we will not issue [reactor] licenses until the court's remand is appropriately addressed."</span></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1237064--why-are-we-paying-n-y-to-take-our-electricity"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">second</span></a>, written by Jack Gibbons (Chairman of Ontario Clean Air Alliance) and published in The Star, demonstrates that Ontario has a surplus of power and that shutting down Pickering for good would reduce Ontario electricity costs by over 5%. The details behind this statement can be found on the OCAA website, in the report, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/surplus.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">"Ontario's Electricity Surplus - an opportunity to reduce costs"</span></a>.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Pretty compelling arguments.</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-77493757945741467152012-08-01T13:05:00.000-04:002012-08-12T11:42:57.439-04:00Do wind turbines really make people ill?<br />
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Wind Concerns Ontario (WCO), a coalition of groups opposed to wind turbines, has been telling us for months that noise from wind turbines makes people ill.</div>
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They’ve even conducted a form of health survey of people near wind turbines in an attempt to prove their point; and claim that 86 out of 112 of respondents are “<span style="font: 12.0px Arial;">reporting adverse health affects due to industrial wind turbines”.</span></div>
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Wind Concerns Ontario tells us that the health issues caused by wind turbines are so significant and clear that there should be a moratorium on wind turbine construction and that turbines should be set back at least 1.5 kilometres from places where people live or spend significant time. </div>
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Effectively this would end any wind development in southern Ontario where we need clean, renewable power generation. </div>
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However, an analysis of the Wind Concerns Ontario data reveals that if those 112 people had been <b>picked at random from the same age groups who do not live anywhere near wind turbines; they would essentially exhibit the same symptoms</b>.</div>
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The complete analysis can be found at <a href="http://www.windisgood.ca/newsrelease.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">www.windisgood.ca</span></a> but the chart below compares the prevalence of the symptoms claimed by the Wind Concerns Ontario sample of 112 people with those identified for the general population. In eight out of nine symptoms the proportion of people reporting the symptom is statistically the same as the general population. In the other one, the WCO respondents have a higher prevalence of tinnitus. This may be explained by the older age profile of the respondents.</div>
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Prevalence (percent of total)</span></div>
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Symptom</div>
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WCO Survey</div>
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Population Max</div>
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Population Min</div>
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Excessive tiredness</div>
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50</div>
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49</div>
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32</div>
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Sleep disturbance</div>
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48</div>
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49</div>
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32</div>
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Stress</div>
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44</div>
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43</div>
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27</div>
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Headache</div>
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38</div>
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42</div>
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36</div>
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Tinnitus</div>
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34</div>
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20</div>
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15</div>
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Anxiety</div>
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29</div>
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50</div>
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15</div>
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Other</div>
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25</div>
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-</div>
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Depression</div>
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21</div>
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30</div>
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20</div>
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Hearing problems</div>
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20</div>
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23</div>
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15</div>
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Palpitations</div>
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19</div>
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25</div>
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15</div>
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Migraines</div>
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9</div>
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8</div>
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6</div>
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<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;">The prevalence of symptoms in the general population is based on </span>an extensive review of the scientific literature. Based on recommendations by University of Toronto physician-epidemiologist, Cornelia Baines, and University of Toronto physician-medical biochemist, Andrew Baines, the comparisons were based on data reported in Statistic Canada’s Canadian National Population Health Survey, the U.S. National Health Interview Survey and over fifteen other peer reviewed journals.</div>
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The analysis establishes that Wind Concerns Ontario’s survey does not show that wind turbines make people ill. This is confirmed by two epidemiological studies in Europe in the last seven years plus numerous academic analyses on the subject. None have found any adverse health effects from turbine noise other than annoyance that some people feel towards turbines. </div>
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Probably annoyance can cause sleeplessness and headaches if it is intense enough but according to the Chatham-Kent public health department quoted in the Star’s editorial on August 3<sup>rd</sup> 2009, <span style="font: 12.0px Arial;">“…opposition to wind farms on the basis of potential adverse health consequences is not justified by the evidence."</span></div>
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Certainly Wind Concerns Ontario survey does not justify a moratorium on wind turbine construction or a change in the setbacks and the standards for wind turbines in Ontario. </div>
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<br /></div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-91943017870001828452012-08-01T09:52:00.000-04:002012-08-01T09:52:39.978-04:00Editorial: Wind Opponents should denounce violence<br />
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<u>This is an editorial from Friends of Wind<b> </b>Ontario</u></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<b><i>Wind Opponent Supports Criminal Behaviour, Threats To Workers</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Friends of Wind Ontario says group has lost all credibility</i></b></div>
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The anti-wind movement in Ontario has hit an all-time low as a leaked email from a wind opponent says that “no one should be surprised with this sort of reaction”. It would be one thing if she were referring to an open house meeting that got a little loud. But she is referring to a police investigation into a death threat made to a wind energy worker in West Grey. The worker allegedly had a shotgun pointed at him and his life was threatened. And we should <span style="color: #1f497d;">‘</span>expect<span style="color: #1f497d;">’</span> this in Ontario???</div>
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The email, which is in reference to the above news article, and was shared with us via a wind opponent who likely<span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span>feels the issue has gotten out of hand, reads verbatim:</div>
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<span style="font: 15.0px Calibri;"><i>“</i></span><i>When the Ontario Provincial Government leaves no legitimate process in place to give people a meaningful say in what happens to their family, </i><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i>no one should be surprised with this sort of reaction</i></span><i>.” </i><span style="color: #1f497d;"><i>(name deleted)</i></span></div>
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This incident is an unfortunate and criminal escalation in the bullying and intimidation tactics that developers have frequently<span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span>faced for several years now as they lawfully construct wind energy projects that have been contracted by the province.</div>
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While wind energy developers have tried to have an engaging and genuine dialogue with citizens, a vocal – and increasingly abusive – minority, has set about to shut down public meetings, drown out speakers, and in some cases physically abuse proponents. I have witnessed this first-hand.</div>
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It is a sad day indeed when grown adults can’t express themselves through words and the democratic process. And unlike claims made by the small but loud wind opposition, there is significant opportunity for citizens and local governments to ask questions and offer feedback on projects. But when genuinely interested citizens show up at open house meetings they often find a few loud and aggressive anti-wind representatives doing everything in their power to ensure questions can’t be answered, let alone heard.</div>
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Developers have worked diligently to respond to questions with facts, to listen to concerns and ensure they are addressed in a timely fashion. The industry association has developed a series of Best Practices to guide the work of their members in local communities – best practices that were informed by dozens of municipal leaders and stakeholders.</div>
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Meanwhile the anti-wind groups have resorted to bullying, distortion of fact, and now this: the condoning of criminal action and threats to bodily harm.</div>
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Any credibility this group had is long gone. Let’s hope the police investigation results in charges and conviction.</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Friends of Wind Ontario (FoWO) is a network of independent people from a variety of backgrounds who firmly believe in the numerous economic, environmental and social benefits of responsible wind energy for the people of Ontario. We have formed to fill the critical participatory void that exists among community engagement, municipal consultation and achievable wind power development. Through science-based, peer-reviewed research, we are committed to delivering a balanced message to all who would like to learn more on the benefits of wind energy. We are a non-profit volunteer-run organization, not affiliated with any political party, under our own direction and have not received funding from wind developers, landowners, industry/government associations, foundations or environmental groups.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Please follow us on Twitter: @FriendsofWind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-42713904309682297682012-08-01T09:33:00.000-04:002012-08-01T09:33:47.622-04:00Wind turbine worker threatened with gun<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoej2GTfMW7U9orvM6s-Ipl-EgeSQLrmZZyUrb0VOROFm9Q2kQ-6-vXHCv9CfHXXN58OteHuLiykqgwBT8YPNLCK8sJ8kX9XEuqqyazUvl123H1chfSAin_YpemfQCPDZP8rkhRKoSTI/s1600/wdr-620-wind-turbine-ap007224571-credit-rick-bowmer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoej2GTfMW7U9orvM6s-Ipl-EgeSQLrmZZyUrb0VOROFm9Q2kQ-6-vXHCv9CfHXXN58OteHuLiykqgwBT8YPNLCK8sJ8kX9XEuqqyazUvl123H1chfSAin_YpemfQCPDZP8rkhRKoSTI/s320/wdr-620-wind-turbine-ap007224571-credit-rick-bowmer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)</span></div>
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CBC News</div>
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July 31, 2012</div>
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West Grey Police are investigating alleged threats against a worker, who says he had a shotgun pulled on him while working on a wind turbine site northeast of London, Ont.</div>
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Police are also investigating threatening phone calls the man says he received.</div>
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Jeff Damen was doing preliminary work at the site of a proposed wind farm in the community of West Grey, near London last week when he says a red pickup truck pulled alongside his vehicle and the driver asked what he was doing.</div>
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After Damen explained the work he was doing, the driver pulled out a gun, Damen said.</div>
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"He reached over his back seat, and pulled out a shotgun, pointed it at me and stated, 'Why don't you leave us all alone? If I catch you back here again, I'm going to kill you,'" Damen said.</div>
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Damen was unable to get a licence plate number. It was covered by a folded down tailgate.</div>
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West Grey Police Const. Janet Shumaker said Damen was alone at the time of the alleged incident but the police are taking the matter seriously.</div>
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"This is the first time something like this has ever happened," Shumaker said.</div>
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Damen said he then received some cryptic phone calls Monday.</div>
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"They stated they know where I live and know what I do," he said. "That's pretty much how they left it and hung up."</div>
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The father of two, who lives in a rural area, said he has had some sleepless nights.</div>
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Bill Palmer opposes wind farms and claims the province refuses to listen to health and safety concerns. So he's not surprised tempers are flaring over wind farms.</div>
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"That's unfortunate. I mean I hate to see that happen, but it's what happens when you divide society," Palmer said.</div>
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Damen said it's not the first time he's been confronted in his field of work.</div>
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"I have encountered verbal attacks, personally to me, regarding wind, but it has never escalated to this point," he said. "This has gone to a new level of my safety, for sure."</div>
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Shumaker said police continue to investigate.</div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-17271905491610768822012-07-28T09:11:00.000-04:002012-07-28T09:11:04.846-04:00Wind turbine syndrome: a classic ‘communicated’ disease<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Conversation</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">20 July 2012, 6.09am AEST</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #727272;">The original article appeared</span><a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/wind-turbine-syndrome-a-classic-communicated-disease-8318"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #727272;">.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><b>AUTHOR</b></span></div>
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<li style="color: #727272; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: #006699; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue';"><b></b><a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/profiles/simon-chapman-1831"><b>Simon Chapman <br />
</b><span style="color: #727272; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue';">Professor of Public Health at University of Sydney </span></a></span></li>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 1.0px;"><b>DISCLOSURE STATEMENT</b></span></div>
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Simon Chapman currently receives funding from the National Health & Medical Research Council for three project grants, and one capacity building grant. He receives no funding from any wind energy company or agents acting on their behalf.</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 1.0px;"><b>ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/the-evidence-is-in-plain-cigarette-packs-turn-young-smokers-off-1443">24 May 2011</a></div>
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<a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/the-evidence-is-in-plain-cigarette-packs-turn-young-smokers-off-1443">The evidence is in – plain cigarette packs turn young smokers off</a></div>
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<a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/a-licensing-scheme-to-make-smokers-butt-out-for-good-1407">23 May 2011</a></div>
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<a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/a-licensing-scheme-to-make-smokers-butt-out-for-good-1407">A licensing scheme to make smokers butt out for good</a></div>
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At the beginning of this year I started collecting examples of health problems some people were attributing to wind turbine exposure. I had noticed a growing number of such claims on the internet and was curious about how many I could find. Within an hour or two I had found nearly 50 and today the number has grown to an astonishing <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/publications/WindfarmDiseases.docx"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>155</b></span></a>.</div>
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I have worked in public health on three continents since the mid 1970s. In all this time, I have never encountered anything in the history of disease that is said to cause even a fraction of the list of problems I have collected.</div>
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The list of 155 problems includes “deaths, many deaths”, none of which have ever been brought to the attention of a coroner. It includes several types of cancer, and both losing weight and gaining weight. You name it. Haemorrhoids have not yet been named, but nothing would surprise me.</div>
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Many of the problems are those which affect large proportions of any community: hypertension (high blood pressure); mental health problems; sleeping difficulties; sensory problems (eyes, hearing, balance); and learning and concentration difficulties. Every day in Australia many hundreds of Australians receive their first diagnosis with these problems, and most live nowhere near wind farms.</div>
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So is it reasonable to suggest that all these problems – or even a fraction of them – are caused by wind turbines? Wind farm opponents repeatedly argue that turbines cause both rapid and long-gestation health problems. It is common to read accounts of people having been adversely affected within hours or even minutes of being exposed. If this was true, there is a big problem here.</div>
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Wind farms have existed in Australia long before the first claims about health ever surfaced. The Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm near Esperance, Western Australia has been operational for 19 years. Victoria’s first, the Codrington wind farm, just celebrated its 11th birthday, and has 14 turbines each capable of producing 1.3 megawatts. And yet health complaints are relatively recent, with the few in Codrington post-dating a visit to the area by a vocal opponent, spreading anxiety.</div>
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In this sense, “wind turbine syndrome” (which incidentally produces zero returns from the United States National Library of Medicine’s 23 million research papers) is what we can call a “communicated” disease: it spreads via the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocebo"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>nocebo effect</b></span></a> by being talked about, and is thereby a strong candidate for being defined as a psychogenic condition.</div>
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One prominent opponent of wind farms says he can hear them 35km away. Others talk about electricity from the turbines “leaking” into the soil and causing deaths of hundreds of cattle and goats. Such catastrophic events would always attract huge news attention. But try to find such coverage and instead you will only find website anecdotes about what happened on a neighbour’s farm.</div>
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Opponents also say that only “susceptible” people are adversely affected by wind turbines. But they repeatedly say animals such as sheep, cattle, dogs and poultry are badly affected, with problems such as malformations, sudden death, sterility and yolkless eggs being common.</div>
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Against this, on any trip to a wind farm region, one can find thousands of livestock grazing contentedly around the turbines. In Tasmania there is a poultry farm with a wind turbine at the front gate. Is the argument now that only some animals are “susceptible” too?</div>
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There have now been <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/WindHealthReviews.docx"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>17 reviews</b></span></a> of the available evidence about wind farms and health, published internationally. These are reviews of all studies, not single pieces of research. Each of these reviews have concluded that wind turbines can annoy a minority of people in their vicinity, but that there is no strong evidence that they make people ill.</div>
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The reviews conclude that pre-existing negative attitudes to wind farms are generally stronger predictors of annoyance than residential distance to the turbines or recorded levels of noise. In other words, people who don’t like wind farms can often be annoyed and worried by them: some might even worry themselves sick.</div>
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There are two main anti-wind farm groups in Australia busily fomenting anxiety and opposition. One is the <a href="http://waubrafoundation.com.au/Y2NpZD0xJmNhaWQ9MTAmYWlkPSZjcmM9LTc4ODYyMzYxMA%3D%3D"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>Waubra Foundation</b></span></a>, a group of mainly wealthy individuals, none of whom live in or near the town of Waubra, near Ballarat. Several of them, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>NIMBY</b></span></a> style, have opposed turbines near their own properties elsewhere. They are led by an unregistered doctor, Sarah Laurie, and a wealthy mining investor, Peter Mitchell who also has connections to the <a href="http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/environment/the-landscape-guardians-and-the-waubra-foundation/"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>Landscape Guardians</b></span></a>. Despite their name, the Guardians have never attempted to guard our landscape from over-zealous residential developers, open cut coal or coal seam gas mining. They only target wind farm developments. All three – Waubra, the Guardians and Mitchell’s mining investment company share a South Melbourne post office box.</div>
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Problems of falling and stagnant real estate prices in many of Australia’s rural areas are well known. When landowners with property that would be hard to sell see a wealthy energy company moving into an area and investing millions in turbines, it’s not difficult to predict that some will see potential in being “bought out” by such companies. Mining companies do it regularly. When this has happened in some communities, word spreads fast. I have been given accounts of lavish renovation and relocation “shopping list” demands that have been given to some wind energy companies by hopeful complainants.</div>
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Tellingly, four allegedly unlivable houses near Waubra where complaining residents were bought out now house non-complaining occupants.</div>
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When anti-wind farm leaders move around communities, sometimes with entrepreneurial lawyers, spreading anxiety that the turbines can harm heath, we can get a potent combination of poorly informed, worried and angry residents seeded with the idea that their protests might lead to a payout.</div>
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Other complainants appear to see the turbines as symbols of values and movements that they despise: totems of green politics, modernity and the urban artifice.</div>
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Almost daily, I receive heated email suggesting I should host a turbine in my inner city backyard. The irony is that for 22 years I’ve lived 300m under the main flight path into Sydney airport, 30 metres from a busy road and 200m from a railway line where the combined noise is incomparably louder than hundreds of wind turbines. I rather think I wear my fair share of community noise. But some in the bush believe that unlike city dwellers, it is their birthright to be sheltered from any intrusion in their pristine surrounds, the ultimate in NIMBYism.</div>
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Fortunately, anti-wind farm voices in the bush are in a small minority, as this <a href="http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Energy-Transformed-Flagship/Exploring-community-acceptance-of-rural-wind-farms-in-Australia.aspx"><span style="color: #006699;"><b>CSIRO study</b></span></a> shows.</div>
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<br /></div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-55823513795458328642012-07-26T09:24:00.000-04:002012-07-26T09:24:58.904-04:00Health Canada study having no effect yet on wind farms<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">July 26, 2012</span></div>
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By WES KELLER</div>
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Freelance Reporter</div>
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In the face of calls for a moratorium on wind turbines pending the outcome of Health Canada’s study of alleged human health issues, Quebec has announced a fourth call for tenders for the commissioning of a new 700-megawatt wind energy block.</div>
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Meanwhile, the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) says the federal health study is unwarranted “because the balance of scientific and medical evidence to date clearly concludes that sound from wind turbines does not adversely impact human health.”</div>
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CanWEA says Québec Premier Jean Charest has reaffirmed “his government’s commitment to renewable energy by seeking to attain the 4,000-MW objective set in its 2006-2015 energy strategy.”</div>
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“The vast majority of Canadians choose wind energy as a top source for clean and safe new electricity,” CanWEA said in a news release on the health issues. “When discussing an issue as important as our energy future we must look at the facts.</div>
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“It is clear that the balance of research and experience to date – including hundreds of thousands of people living and working near wind turbines in 89 countries around the world – concludes that wind energy does not adversely impact human health,” said Chris Forrest, vice-president of Communications.</div>
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It cites reports by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, the National Public Health Institute in Quebec, and most recently by an expert panel report to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of the Environment, as evidence of no health impacts.</div>
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“An Oracle Research poll conducted this year found that 78 per cent of Ontarians believe that wind energy is one of the safest forms of electricity generation. According to Dr.</div>
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Robert Oliphant, President and CEO of the Asthma Society of Canada, ‘In all forms, renewable energy is a safe and healthy alternative to fossil fuels’.”</div>
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But critics, such as the Melancthon residents opposing a Dufferin Wind Power (DWP) project, remain unconvinced of the reliability of studies to date.</div>
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At a Horning’s Mills information session Tuesday, a DWP panelist was chided for citing only positive findings of studies on turbines and health. His response was that the studies he had named had already reviewed the published negative materials.</div>
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There, the main thrust of questions on health could be expressed as, “if turbines don’t affect health, why are people getting sick after they are in operation?”</div>
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Jeff Hammond of DWP reiterated that causation hadn’t been proven. He said DWP “has to build a safe wind farm. We’ll follow the rules.”</div>
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Apart from health, there was an accusation that DWP wants to buy the former CP Rail corridor, and that it has an agreement with The Highland Companies.</div>
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Both allegations were denied. DWP, said Mr. Hammond, is simply negotiating an easement beside the rail bed. He said there has been no corporate contact with Highland.</div>
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Someone asked why the county is taking over the Melancthon landfill. Mayor Bill Hill, who was in the audience, was called on to respond that the county is not taking over any dumps but merely the collection of waste. He said he had no idea where the allegation had originated.</div>
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What happens when a turbine catches fire? Other than using the automatic internal extinguishers, you just let it burn itself out.</div>
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A frequently asked question centres on decommissioning at the end of the 20-year contract.</div>
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The meeting was told that if decommissioning should occur, the turbines, towers and some underground cables would be removed and the base cut away below grade. This would all be funded through securities DWP is posting.</div>
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But Mr. Hammond said it is more likely that the turbines would be replaced with newer, more efficient ones, and the contract renewed.</div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-63896235722816881342012-07-13T20:13:00.001-04:002012-07-26T09:25:33.398-04:00Dufferin Wind Pioneers II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibfH6b9fTbmGp3-qUSUsbaIsYzo2kEgajPmHmZfZN0nWL_hopVd0uXsalclBT0JwMcDM9wAhcYHmBYaJ5Ssta1b3IcL8Oomu21-HnvK6rKr3O2GoCwJPowhFUuYa7emVBpvJj-6WOS0U/s1600/SuperStock_1899-23598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibfH6b9fTbmGp3-qUSUsbaIsYzo2kEgajPmHmZfZN0nWL_hopVd0uXsalclBT0JwMcDM9wAhcYHmBYaJ5Ssta1b3IcL8Oomu21-HnvK6rKr3O2GoCwJPowhFUuYa7emVBpvJj-6WOS0U/s320/SuperStock_1899-23598.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We're continuing to post the letters from the investors (also landowners) of the Dufferin Wind project. We believe that their words say so much more than those of the people who are opposed to the project.<br />
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<br />Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-75735406187273266872012-07-13T19:56:00.000-04:002012-07-13T20:15:02.377-04:00Dufferin Wind Pioneers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dufferin Wind Power is probably the largest community originated wind project in Ontario, if not Canada. You can learn more about it <a href="http://www.dufferinwindpower.ca/FactsInformation.aspx">here</a>. <br />
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It's quite a story of local farmers getting together to collectively develop the resource blowing over their farms. It's also a great story of how people can become committed towards wind power when they are the ones who initiate the project and contribute their own capital.<br />
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As a tribute to these people, we are going to publish the letters that they wrote to their local municipal and county representatives in support of granting their project's access to local road and rail allowances. Each letter is different in perspective and tone, so we'd recommend that you read each one. It's an amazing testimony as to how rural entrepreneurs organize themselves, assume financial risk and find the right people to help them achieve their goals. <br />
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There are a large number of these testimonials, and each is different, so we'll dedicate a number of blog entries to this theme.<br />
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Click on each image to read it in full size.<br />
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<br />Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-24763877099932529802012-06-19T10:05:00.000-04:002012-06-19T10:05:39.575-04:00Wind turbines power mass hysteria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img (getty="" 21="" alt="" appears="" biomedical="" class="featureImg" images)"="" in="" million="" not="" over="" papers="" src="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/image/4028146-16x9-340x191.jpg" syndrome"="" turbine="" wind="" /></div>
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ABC.net</div>
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Simon Chapman</div>
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23 May 2012</div>
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The history of medicine contains many bizarre episodes of mass hysteria and psychogenic illness, with mass fainting by children during school vaccinations a common example.</div>
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Outbreaks of mass hysteria have common factors which contribute to their contagion. People "spreading" alarm about alleged harms are central to the proliferation of mass hysteria and today the internet is peerless as a disease vector.</div>
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While most people have heard of the placebo effect (when an inert "drug" like a sugar pill or a sham surgical procedure like inserting random acupuncture needles is followed by people feeling better) its opposite, the "nocebo" effect, is less appreciated.</div>
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A nocebo effect occurs when people feel ill or are convinced they have symptoms after being told that something is harmful. For the past few months, I have been collecting claims about adverse health effects made by opponents of wind farms. Today the total stands at <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/publications/WindfarmDiseases.docx"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">113 different diseases and symptoms</span></a> in humans and animals.</div>
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Other than perhaps the aftermath of a nuclear blast on population health, there is nothing known to medicine that comes close to the morbid apocalypse that is being megaphoned by anti-wind groups.</div>
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It is not just illnesses and symptoms that occur but "deaths, yes, many deaths mainly from unusual cancers", which have strangely never come to the attention of any coroner.</div>
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Did you know that wind turbines can cause lung cancer, leukaemia, diabetes, herpes, "electromagnetic spasms in the skull", infertility and the ghastly sounding "loss of bowels"?</div>
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Any very common problem together affecting literally millions of people across Australia (sleep problems, high blood pressure, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, children doing poorly at school, nosebleeds and muscle twitches) can all be explained by wind turbine exposure.</div>
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Nothing else is relevant if you live near one. But there are some benefits too. Those who are overweight can lose kilograms through exposure to wind turbines, but the excessively slim can gain weight as well!</div>
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Is this magic?</div>
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It's not just humans that are affected. Did you know that "seagulls no longer follow the plough in areas near wind turbines ... the seagulls have learned that the worms have all been driven away ... They must go elsewhere for their food." This can happen as far as 18km from a turbine!</div>
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Whales have their sonar systems disrupted, chickens won't lay, and sheep wool is poorer in quality. Tragically, a "peahen refused to go near a peacock" and dogs "stare blankly at walls", ignoring owners. Never seen a dog like that.</div>
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It's not just the effect of turbine exposure that causes harm, but leaking "stray or tingle electricity" generated by the turbines can mysteriously travel through the soil with disastrous consequences. This has resulted in 400 goats "dropping dead" in New Zealand, dairy cows being "shocked through milking machines", and almost every known malformation in birds and farm animals.</div>
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Many of the above have been folded into a new disease entity called "wind turbine syndrome" by an American doctor, Nina Pierpont, set out in a vanity press book <a href="http://www.kselected.com/"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">K-Selected Books</span></a> run by herself and her partner.</div>
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"Wind Turbine Syndrome" appears not once in the US national Library of Medicine's <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">online PubMed library</span></a> of over 21 million biomedical papers. But that's not stopped this psychogenic "syndrome" bouncing around to the tune of 154,000 Google hits.</div>
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Pierpont's Australian counterpart is an unregistered South Australian doctor, Sarah Laurie, who travels about spreading the bad news. With a straight face, Laurie told a recent meeting of mostly bussed in protesters in the <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/publications/SarahLaurieSpeechMortlake2012.pdf"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">Victorian town of Mortlake</span></a> that just one night in a house in proximity to a wind turbine had "just about everybody ...every five or ten minutes needing to go to the toilet."</div>
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Let's assume the residents went to bed at 11 and woke at 7; that would be 48 to 96 times a night for each person. Is she taking the piss?</div>
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The Victorian Government has introduced a 2km setback rule for wind turbines for any residence, and the NSW government currently has the same distance out for public discussion. The NSW Health Department has sensibly advised that any decision on setbacks cannot be made on the basis of any evidence of harm to health.</div>
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Seventeen <a href="http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets/pdfs/WindHealthReviews.docx"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">reviews of the evidence</span></a> back this up with the NHMRC soon to add an eighteenth. If that too should clear turbines, you can bet the anti-wind lobby has already rehearsed why it too should be ignored.</div>
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It is easy to find claims on the web that turbines can bring on symptoms within hours or even minutes of exposure. It's something of a problem then that of the 150,000 turbines around the world, only a small fraction have generated complaints, and that with many having been erected in the 1990s, the "epidemic" of wind farm complaints had its beginnings several years later.</div>
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And you will search in vain to find anyone deriving income from hosting turbines who is complaining: money, it seems, is a magic cure. Opponents retort that these people are gagged by confidentiality clauses, but common law claims of negligence are never voided by contracts.</div>
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Political acquiescence to the NIMBY and turbine-rent-envy driven culture of complaint about wind farms threatens to seriously hobble Australia's ability to meet carbon reduction targets. Meanwhile, the <a href="http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Energy-Transformed-Flagship/Exploring-community-acceptance-of-rural-wind-farms-in-Australia.aspx"><span style="color: #2f80d1;">great majority of the public</span></a> supports wind power and nations like China and India are surging ahead in wind-energy production.</div>
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<i>Simon Chapman is professor of public health at the University of Sydney. Twitter: </i><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/simonchapman6"><span style="color: #2f80d1;"><i>@simonchapman6</i></span></a><i>. View his full profile </i><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/simon-chapman-28112.html"><span style="color: #2f80d1;"><i>here</i></span></a><i>.</i></div>
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</div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518379295576861285.post-22519568647348216732012-06-08T18:00:00.000-04:002012-06-08T18:04:24.784-04:00Ontario auditor-general’s green energy report was flawed, critique says<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Ontario auditor-general’s green energy report was</b></div>
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<b>flawed, critique says</b></div>
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<b>The Star</b></div>
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<b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">A report by Ontario’s auditor-general that blamed renewable energy projects for pumping up</span></b></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">electricity prices was flawed, according to a critique commissioned by two environmental</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">groups.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Environmental Defence and the Pembina Institute, who commissioned the <a href="http://www.bridgepointgroupltd.com/database/rte/files/Renewable%20Energy%20Facts.pdf">critique</a></b><span style="color: #007ba7;"><b> </b></span><b>by</b></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bridgepoint Group, say the auditor-general unfairly fingered renewable energy.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">In his report last December, auditor-general Jim McCarter wrote that:</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">“billions of dollars were committed to renewable energy without fully evaluating the impact,</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">the trade-offs, and the alternatives through a comprehensive business-case analysis.”</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bridgepoint says that McCarter’s analysis has holes.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>For example, the auditor-general’s </b><span style="color: #007cb0;"><b><a href="http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en11/303en11.pdf">report</a></b></span><b>, released in December, said high-priced</b></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">renewable energy sources like wind and solar are inflating the “global adjustment” charge on</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">hydro bills.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">“Renewable energy contracts will contribute significantly to</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">increases to the Global Adjustment,” McCarter wrote.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The global adjustment is charged to consumers to cover the cost of specially contracted</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">power – including renewable power and private nuclear power – that doesn’t trade on the</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">regular market.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The global adjustment now generally exceeds the market price for electricity.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">In the first three months of 2012, for example, the market price averaged 2.13 cents a</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">kilowatt hour while the global adjustment was 5.14 cents, for a total of 7.27 cents a kwh on</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">the energy portion of the bill.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Bridgepoint report argues that nuclear power is responsible for the greatest part of the</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">global adjustment charge.</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>It points to analysis by the province’s electricity market surveillance </b><span style="color: #007cb0;"><b><a href="http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB/_Documents/MSP/MSP_Report_20120427.pdf">panel</a></b></span><b>, which found that</b></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">payments for nuclear power made up 45 per cent of the global adjustment charge between</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">2006 and 2011, while renewables were responsible for 6 per cent.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Bridgepoint analysis also takes issue with the auditor-general’s argument that</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">renewable power costs significantly more than other forms of generation.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The auditor-general compared the cost of power from a new wind turbine or solar panel</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">today with the cost of power from a nuclear power plant built 30 years ago, Bridgepoint says.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">He should have compared the cost of a power from a new wind turbine with power from a</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">new nuclear plant, the critique argues.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">For example, Bruce Power gets 6.6 cents a kwh for output from its Bruce A plant, not</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">including payments for fuel costs. (Nuclear power critics argue that the debt retirement</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">charge – which covers the debt left by Ontario Hydro’s nuclear program – should also be</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">included in the cost of nuclear.)</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bridgepoint says that new nuclear plants need a price of 12 to 20 cents a kwh.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Under recently revised feed-in tariff rates, developers of new wind projects in Ontario get</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">11.5 cents a kwh for their output.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Solar is more expensive. The biggest new solar projects get 34.7 cents a kwh, with smaller</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">projects getting higher prices.</span></b></div>
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<b></b></div>
</b></div>Ontario Highlands Friends of Wind Powerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04080878707989417163noreply@blogger.com2