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Letter to Mr. John Gerretsen, M.P — Minister of the Environment — Ontario 

By Ron Stephens
Independent candidate for Grey – Bruce

The letter below is from Hugh Christopher Brown of Wolfe Island, Ontario.

He, like many others in this province, is frustrated with the Minister of Environment. From the office of Premier McGuinty to the office of your local MPP, the government has shown absolute disrespect for the citizens of this province.

From the dismantling of Ont. Hydro by Maurice Strong, the father of Kyoto, to the present day, our electrical system has been guided, not by those who understand our electrical systems and the needs of the province, but by the E8, another Maurice Strong product, and Agenda 21 from the UN.

Our electrical system has been sold off, and the citizens and manufacturing sector are being fed to the wolves.

It would not matter which party is in power. They have all bought into the idea of rule by the UN. Sustainability they like to call it. Sustainability means giving up our rights and freedoms to an outside entity.

Treason, if you will.

Every political party in this province will push wind farms to appease the “Green Movement”. Why? Because they are gutless traitors.

The govt. cannot present a case to defend their actions, because other than Green rhetoric, there is no case.

Nowhere in the world has wind energy proven it’s worth. The Danes are fighting against wind farms in Denmark, birthplace of modern day wind energy.

Germany, home to more wind power than any other country is building 26 coal plants. Why? Wind is not doing the job, nor will it ever.

Denmark saw wind as a clean alternative. It is a very small country of 5 million, yet it is heavily dependent on it’s neighbours for it’s power.

Enron discovered they could make a lot of money and gain control of large portions of the American grid by jumping on the “Global Warming” wagon.

Clinton, Gore and Maurice Strong were all involved in helping Enron.

Through subsidies and tax benefits, combined with their natural gas interests, their was billions to be made.

Nothing has changed. The wind industry of today is the ghost of Enron reborn, and it’s just as evil.

Don’t take my word, do your own research.

Please support the people of Wolfe Island and the many other communities threatened by wind farms by sending your thoughts to the Minister of the Environment.

.

April 12, 2008

Mr. John Gerretsen, M.P

Minister of the Environment

135 St. Clair Ave W., 15th Floor

Toronto, Ontario

M4V 1P5
RE: WOLFE ISLAND WIND PROJECT – APPEAL REQUEST FOR EA
Dear Mr. Gerretsen:

I am in absolute disbelief that an individual Environmental Assessment has been denied for this project.

CREC has obliged itself to deliver a wind plant with nameplate capacity of 197.8 megawatts, to be operational by October 2008.

In a letter to Shelia Allen, dated January 4 2008, Ontario Projects Manager Geoff Carnegie refers to financial penalties to be imposed by the OPA should CREC fail to deliver on this obligation.

In the same letter, Mr Carnegie also comments on the economic “non-viability” of turbine deactivation or removal, and allows that CREC will counter adverse effects only by employing “commercially reasonable” efforts.

So Mr. Gerretsen, am I to understand that a private energy company is taking money to fulfill a production quota, self site a power plant, and now declares itself immune to accountability on financial basis?

I do not need to go into great detail about the social and environmental uniqueness of Wolfe Island. You have been well furnished with documents to that effect. You know that this island sits at the head of the biggest estuary on the planet, is on the flight path of a significant number of migratory species, and is the nesting site for many endangered species. You also know as a CLASS IV IBA, Wolfe Island would not even qualify for this development were the proposal made
today.

You are also well aware that not a single turbine has been moved in response to the many recommendations of Environment Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources,
Ducks Unlimited and the Kingston Field Naturalists. So what exactly is going on?

You have attended a conciliatory BBQ with optioned landowners and told concerned citizens that you “like the look of windmills”.

You are the Minister of The Environment, and you demand nothing more of corporations than they self regulate their practices as much as is ‘commercially reasonable’ ?

I am well aware of the political risks of criticising wind energy. I also know that if these projects are done recklessly, it jeopardizes the future of wind development in our country.

You need look no further than our divided community, or the price of real estate Melanthon to see where a lack of policy is getting us.

Does your party want to go down as the builders of sustainability, viable public infrastructure, or the contractors of political expedience? To choose the later risks not only your legacy, but as I stated, that of the industry itself.

I like the look of windmills too. I like the clusters of 4-5 you see outside of Danish villages, or the 20 in Copenhagen’s harbour.

Denmark is the leader in renewable energy, has decades of experience in wind harnessing, uses minimum setbacks of two kilometres, and practices the environmentally meaningful method of energy production: ‘use at source’. This is not the paradigm being followed here.

Our constituency is further insulted that we are left to the mercy of absurd ‘post construction mitigation’, carried out at the discretion of a company which has lied to us with promises of turbine deactivation in the event of high avian mortality, noise, ice throw or other perils. Mr Carnegie’s letter lets us know this form of mitigation is actually an autopsy. Once our habitats are desecrated, CREC proposes buying land elsewhere and “creating new sites with desirable habitat features”. So much for good old conservation. I would call this level of vanity ‘Biblical’.

If a bump-up is denied , we will take every political and legal measure to bring this ill-informed green washing to light. As a musician who travels the world, I have watched communities grow up quickly in the face of political opportunists. I am no longer asked in interviews what my problem with wind power is, but where is my
government in all this?

I would like to say that it is working with due diligence to secure meaningful and sustainable practises. Today those are definitely not the words I use. Give our island the respect of full environmental assessment, and let us implement appropriate safeguards to protect the environment and your constituents.

Anything less implicates a dedicated ignorance or ulterior motive.

Sincerely,

Hugh Christopher Brown

Wolfe Island, Ontario

c.c.
Lynn Moore, Chair

Wolfe Island Residents for the Environment

792 Fairfax Dr., Kingston, Ontario K7M 4V7
c.c.
Dalton McGuinty, Premier

Legislative Building

Queen’s Park

Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1

dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Mr. Robert W. Runciman

Room 436, Main Legislative Building

Toronto ON M7A 1A4

rwrunciman@brockville.com
John Yakabuski

Official Opposition Energy Critic

Queen’s Park

Room 202, N.W., Legislative building

Toronto, Ontario M7A lA8

john.yakabuski@pc.ola.org
Ted Arnott

Tourism Critic PC

181 St. Andrew St E, 2nd Flr

Fergus ON N1M 1P9

ted.arnott@pc.ola.org
Ms. Peggy Smith, Solicitor

160 Johnson St.,

Kingston, Ontario K7L 1Y1

middle@kos.net
Mr. John Tory, PC Leader,

Room 200, NW, Legislative Bldg,

Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ontario M7A lA8

leader@ontariopc.net
Ms. Elizabeth May, Leader

Green Party of Canada

P.O. Box 997, Station B

Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5R1

leader@greenparty.ca

Blowing Our Tax Dollars on Wind Farms

13 April 2008

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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