Misinformation regarding renewables

It has been disappointing, even frustrating at times to view the amount of misinformation and rhetoric produced by opponents of renewable energy.  It is no wonder that readers, soon to be voters, can become confused.  How to get to the essential facts, based on evidence, becomes the key question.

Consider on one hand that the opponents to wind energy will not even stand behind the information they are putting out.  The disclaimer on the website for The Society for Wind Vigilance states that information “is subject to change without notice and is not intended to be relied on by readers as advice in any particular matter.”  Really?  Any legitimate researchers doing arms length, peer reviewed and published research would never have to contradict themselves with a disclaimer like this.
Consider on the other hand an Ontario Medical Association report that 9500 Canadians died premature deaths related to smog from fossil fuel burning, including coal, in 2008.  As a percentage of population 25 of those who died would have been fellow residents of Prince Edward County – 25 preventable deaths here…. More recently the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) write in their recent newsletter that statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society show that “Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada” and “approximately 1 in 4 Canadians will die of cancer.”   It continues to present the evidence on toxins emitted in the nuclear industry life cycle, and known carcinogens emitted into the air from coal-fired plants like Nanticoke.  This is the air that we breathe…. Who to believe – the society with a disclaimer or the medical associations with hard facts?

Our reliance on dirty and dangerous sources of energy is not inescapable.  Look for CAPE’s document, Energy and Your Health: A Special Edition Newsletter, to get the facts about your health and the solutions available to us. You can find it on the website www.cape.ca .
This may be the most significant 5 minutes you can spend.
Respectfully,
Don Hudson