Why are we going all in on wind turbines?
I am perplexed and sad about the many issues that plague this island: homelessness, education, health care, Muskrat Falls, immigration, wind turbines and more.
In this letter I focus on Wind Turbines.
This “green” energy is under development and operational all over the world. It’s not going away despite the fact the earth has to be plundered in less than green ways in order to exist. Lands are mined, trees and swampland are destroyed, ponds are drained, numerous forms of life are obliterated, and human life is traumatized.
The planet needs energy and wind turbines are one solution. But apart from meeting a basic need, wind turbines are sought-after primarily for billions of dollars profit. At Premier Andrew Furey’s press conference in 2023, Mr. Furey spoke of economic returns to Newfoundland. But who will actually reap the benefits? Will the island make so much profit from wind turbines that the Muskrat Falls debt can be resolved without mitigation and handouts from Ottawa? Will the reaped returns build and staff more schools, seniors homes, and health centres?
That’s dreaming in technicolor. The mega projects of the past didn’t achieve that, nor will the current. They piled debt and failure onto the island. History tells us that once more our island has taken another step towards disaster. With the GH2 project now approved, the company can proceed without further environmental assessments. In other words, GH2 now has free rein to savage the land.
If the people of Newfoundland truly care about what is and will be happening they should look at the maps and photos that are staggeringly disturbing. The devastation has already begun in the Port au Port and Burin peninsulas and is slated for the Codroy Valley.
And don’t expect it to end there. Why else did the Minister of Energy announce that 1.66 million hectares of Crown Land across the island is being released for potential wind projects?
Soon our northern and eastern shores will also be scarred with wind turbines.
The small area of Port au Port alone will be covered with 164 wind turbines, each one standing about 600 feet high.
Why can’t the government carry out a modest trial – wind turbines are in their early years and have numerous problems to be resolved – instead of waging this massive war on our land and its inhabitants?
Once again, the answer is money. Mr. Furey has lured U.S. and European businesses, is consulting with Arabian investors and is courting who knows what others to “buy into” our land.
Will Newfoundland see any of the profits? If so, at what rate? What benefits will we see? Perhaps a few hundred “permanent” jobs and some compensation payments to people who will lose tourism money because their scenic tours will be turned into ugly wind turbine farms.
How much of this energy will Newfoundlanders receive to replace electricity, oil, and propane? It appears that all of it is going to Europe, and perhaps elsewhere. Who knows?
How can we reach the unions in the fisheries (FFAW), education (NLTA), health (AAHP), labour (LIUNA), the public and private sectors (NAPE) and the general public to make our united voice so strong that while we know that we can’t stop wind turbines perhaps we can force the government to limit wind energy projects to a slower, more reasonable process?
How many of us truly care?
Marian Bashaw
Portugal Cove – St. Phillip’s, NL