Wind turbines' effects on health to be studied by Ottawa

[styky]

Wind turbines' effects on health to be studied by Ottawa
Public comments part of Health Canada-Statistics Canada review
CBC News
Posted: Jul 10, 2012 12:38 PM ET
Last Updated: Jul 10, 2012 12:34 PM ET
A study on the noise and health effects of wind turbines will be conducted by Health Canada and Statistics Canada following complaints from people living in the area of such installations.

"This study is in response to questions from residents living near wind farms about possible health effects of low-frequency noise generated by wind turbines," said Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq in a release Tuesday.

The study will look at the relationship between complaints about noise and health effects with what has been "objectively measured" in people living near wind power installations, the release said......................http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... study.html

[styky]

Ottawa’s wind-farm study a case of suspiciously political science

The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jul. 16 2012, 7:30 PM EDT

Last updated Monday, Jul. 16 2012, 5:59 PM EDT
The Harper government is not known for fostering a strong relationship between science and public policy. Last week, scientists and researchers held a protest in Ottawa against cuts to hundreds of jobs and the closure of facilities like an Arctic atmospheric research laboratory that helps monitor the ozone layer and a facility to study the effects of water pollution. So it is peculiar, then, that the government has now commissioned a study on the health effects of living close to wind turbines – a decision that seems to have more to do with politics than with policy.

There are many valid concerns about the aggressive wind-energy strategy currently being implemented in Ontario, which is the impetus for the study. Among them are the costs to ratepayers, the aesthetic effects on rural landscapes and environmental impacts such as those on migrating birds. A body of research, including a report by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, already suggests that health impacts are marginal to non-existent. Claims of headaches, vertigo, tinnitus and other symptoms seem mostly to be manifestations of (perhaps understandable) anger about the placement of wind turbines without the consent of those living nearby................http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commenta ... le4420848/

[Alec Bachlow]

They kill birds like they were not important..That's my only concern with wind turbines...The noise? I am sure that no loud continuous drone of any kind is good for you....Whether you live in a suburb of Montreal or Toronto and have to listen to the din of a super highway...or as in my case...If I go out at four in the morning to sit in my roof top garden...The roar of the city is intense..A powerful drone that is relentless...I live just east of the core ...and It is like hearing the call of the proverbial beast...I am sure it is NOT good for your health..any sustained noise that is un-natural is destructive...unless it is the lapping of waves or the sound of the breeze going through the trees...Man has adapted to nature but not to technology.

[backhoe]

Ottawa’s wind-farm study a case of suspiciously political science

The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jul. 16 2012, 7:30 PM EDT

Last updated Monday, Jul. 16 2012, 5:59 PM EDT
The Harper government is not known for fostering a strong relationship between science and public policy. Last week, scientists and researchers held a protest in Ottawa against cuts to hundreds of jobs and the closure of facilities like an Arctic atmospheric research laboratory that helps monitor the ozone layer and a facility to study the effects of water pollution. So it is peculiar, then, that the government has now commissioned a study on the health effects of living close to wind turbines – a decision that seems to have more to do with politics than with policy.

There are many valid concerns about the aggressive wind-energy strategy currently being implemented in Ontario, which is the impetus for the study. Among them are the costs to ratepayers, the aesthetic effects on rural landscapes and environmental impacts such as those on migrating birds. A body of research, including a report by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, already suggests that health impacts are marginal to non-existent. Claims of headaches, vertigo, tinnitus and other symptoms seem mostly to be manifestations of (perhaps understandable) anger about the placement of wind turbines without the consent of those living nearby................http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commenta ... le4420848/

From the comments?

NancyM1

7:49 PM on July 16, 2012

We might have to start a new organization called Ethical Wind.

Then Ethical Solar.

What I'm really hoping for is Ethical Ethics. But I think I'm dreaming.