The rush to wind power by Nova Scotia Power may be welcome news to those urging the power corporation to lessen its dependence on coal in favour of greener energy sources such as wind, but to those facing the real prospect at having turbines in their face it’s not so welcome.
Earlier this week, Nova Scotia Power CEO Ralph Tedesco said the corporation is on the verge of signing contracts with six developers to contruct wind farms at eight different locations in the province including in Cumberland, Colchester and Pictou counties.
What Tedesco calls “invisible gold” is not something wind farm opponents like Lisa Betts and her Gulf Shore Association is looking forward to. They have waged a long and sometimes bitter campaign against a proposed development on the Gulf Shore they believe will infringe on their properties.
Wind energy is good for the environment in that it lessens our dependency on fossil fuels like oil and coal. Other jurisdictions have been harnessing the power of the wind for generations and there are thousands of wind turbines in use in both Europe and elsewhere in North America.
However, before we rush off to embrace wind energy we must make darn sure it’s not going to ruin people’s lives. While it would be easy to study this to death, there has to be definitive answers to lingering questions and they must be settled before the first turbine is put in place next door to communities and homes. It’s too late to try and answer questions after they’re already erected.
Let’s get it right while we still have a chance with solid fact-based evidence so we’re not looking back at what could have been done.
22 November 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/11/22/is-wind-power-the-answer/