July 2, 2011
Letters, Ontario

Movie puts issue of wind in perspective

The Chronicle Journal, www.chroniclejournal.com 2 July 2011

I watched the movie Windfall recently at the Community Auditorium, and having now a more informed point of view, feel very concerned about what is happening to our community with the planned wind turbines.
The environmental destruction of the land and wildlife, the disruption of people’s health and comfort, and the consequences for all of us in this community would be devastating.
As David Suzuki said: “Wind farms need to be sited properly and appropriately placed in areas where they can have the greatest possible effect with the smallest environmental footprint. After all, the whole point of clean energy is to reduce our environmental burden, not make it worse.”
In the movie, a person in this small community faced with this challenge said: “We who care must be the stewards of our land.” Isn’t it so true?
The movie helped me realize that there are big economic powers who may have used deceitful methods in order to obtain contracts.
It sure isn’t the concern of those who make decisions motivated by profit to protect our health and our environment, so it is up to us, those who consciously choose to have other priorities, to protect what we have, and have the courage to say “no.”
We have this pristine maple grove in our midst. We also have a healthy community living near the Nor’westers; no other chances will be given to us to save them. The time is now.
Now that information is more readily available and awareness is being raised about the disastrous consequences of this decision, what could city council’s reasons be to persist with it?
Admitting that they’ve made a mistake, going through a lawsuit, to me, would be a better (a courageous) alternative than to destroy a 1.6 billion-year-old mountain and the health and/or wealth of many citizens forever.
I believe that in our times, decisions based on profit or money are no longer viable. The decisions people make, from now on, will either support the survival of our planet, or not.
I hope that councillors will continue to research and question this issue, and make a decision based on conscience.
Catherine Sajna
Thunder Bay


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/02/movie-puts-issue-of-wind-in-perspective/