Al Gore - A lot of hot air
Besides being a columnist, I am an ardent reader of two local newspapers; a daily and a weekly. The weekly reported for almost a year now on proposed wind turbines to grace the Mount St. Patrick escarpment between Dacre and Barry's Bay.
Through the varying views on this topic expressed in these publications, I became rather interested in wind turbines and "in-stream" electric generators, all of which are the birthchild of the current Ontario government's fanatic obsession with so-called "green energy" and desperation to stimulate the economy, regardless of the other cost to the environment.
On occasion I wrote about these topics, but without having good answers, I raised questions. The time when I did express a strong opinion, it was castigating the Ontario "Green Energy and Green Economy Act" and the gag-order imposed on municipal governments, literally forcing them to change existing zoning bylaws and issue construction permits without delay, instead of having them exercise their constitutional mandate, ie. acting in accordance with the wishes and in the best interest of their constituents.
Medias have space and/or time restrictions. Writing or reporting about technical and scientific material often leaves no room to list scientist's credentials and lengthy titles.
This brings me to Dr. Paul Morris' letter to the editor published in the July 18 Observer. He is highly critical of and castigates Lou Eyamie for omitting the titles and context of scientific studies he referred to in his earlier letter to the editor, but only made reference to highlights.
From what I can decipher in Dr. Morris' letter, he appears to be a follower of the Al Gore/David Suzuki doctrine that climate change and alleged global warming are man-made for the most part.
Getting back to Dr. Morris' criticism of Lou Eyamie, for omitting certain matters in his letter, please allow me justifiable criticism of the Al Gore/David Suzuki apostles whose trademark it is to lament about wonderland Germany and its accomplishments to "save planet Earth" against climate change and global warming.
* They deliberately omit the destructive consequences of wind turbine construction sites, needed service roads and power corridors, especially in wooded environments.
* They deliberately omit the permanent destruction of aquatic habitats and fish migration routes, besides obstructing navigation, at sites where "in-stream" electric generators are installed.
* They neglect to report that wonderland Germany's +13,400 wind turbines (2007 data) have not resulted in the shut-down of one single coal-fired power station. (Isn't that the goal of Ontario's government policy?)
* They deliberately hide and are silent of the fact, that Germany contemplates building about 40 more coal-fired power plants;mind you, with state-of-the- art pollution controls.
* They remain silent on the fact, that every new wind turbine site in Germany attracts hundreds of protesters who take time off work and travel great distances to these sites, nor do they feature interviews with those protesters hearing their reasons for opposing wind turbines. Why?
* They do not mention the amounts of money governments are subsidizing wind turbine and "in-stream" generator construction, besides offering their owners long-term guaranteed prices for kilowatt hours fed into the power grid.
* And lastly, neither they nor our governments publish calculations of how much it will cost society, were a carbon tax or a cap-and- trade scheme implemented and once thousands of electric or hybrid cars plugged into the power grid and smart-metered.
Who gets rich and who gets poorer once "green energy" production is in full swing?
I fear Ontario is on the same hypocritical path as Germany, which shuts down its nuclear power plants, but imports electricity from France's nuclear power generators.
Because Ontario's steadily increasing electricity demands will not be met by wind turbines and "in-stream" generators, apparently the "green soldiers" see nothing wrong with importing coal-fired electricity from the U. S. once our power plants are shut down.
With so many omissions by the Al Gore/David Suzuki apostolate, allow me to suggest that Lou Eyamie is owed an apology!
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