Country is on a path to achieving the hard task in renewables while flunking the simple one in coal
To stand in the Black Forest in the south-west of Germany and watch 100m-diameter wind turbines turning on wooded ridges is to see the Energiewende in action. Germany’s effort to produce up to 95 per cent of its energy needs with renewables such as wind and solar by 2050 is under way. It is partly working.

The good part is on display in Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous state that is home to companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Robert Bosch and SAP. Here, a new Mittelstand of small and medium-sized enterprises has sprung up around renewables that last year accounted for 26 per cent of Germany’s power generation. Nearly half of this was produced by farmers and co-operatives that operate wind and solar farms.

read more:  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e93916b6-70d1-11e5-9b9e-690fdae72044.html#axzz3oxkcimQ6

Greg Schmalz, from the people power group Saugeen Turbine Operation Policy (Stop),describes the on-going issues of fighting a wind turbine owned by the giant Unifor Union, in the small resort town of Port Elgin

GFB Podcast: Greg Schmalz – October 14th Posted on October 14, 2015 by Valerie Massie

For Pickens, Wind Claim May Be Last Power Play

T. Boone Pickens made billions drilling for oiland gas and squaring off in bare-knuckled corporate takeover bouts.

Now the 87-year-old tycoon is embroiled in what may be the last big battle of his career. Only this one is aimed thousands of miles north of his Texas home. And it is over wind power.

It is an unusual fight for the former wildcatter. Mr. Pickens is using his rights under the North American Free Trade Agreement to bring claims against the Canadian province of Ontario. And a Florida company that has provoked his ire is one that is usually on the same side as Mr. Pickens when it comes to regulation and politics — in particular, in helping Jeb Bush get elected president.

Like other investors who have challenged governments, Mr. Pickens has taken his dispute to an international court. He is seeking $700 million in damages for future losses related to bids that his wind power company, Mesa Power, lost in wind power auctions in Ontario.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/business/dealbook/for-pickens-wind-claim-may-be-last-power-play.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

Ever wonder why some of the  Medical Officers of Health from public health department have such a hard responding to complaints of their resident’s complaints of adverse health effects from wind turbines?

See page 34 of the following to see what is being presented for their consideration (Cavan monaghan- Peterborough)

635248636228891014

It was a full house  on September 30, 2015 at the local school in Wainfleet as residents came to hear Mike Jankowski and Stephana Johnston speak about their experiences living next to industrial wind turbines. Information about impacts to property values was also presented  The Niagara wind project of seventy seven 3MW turbines is currently under construction in Wainfleet, West Lincoln, Haldimand and Niagara and has already been issued stop work orders issued due to complaints. The issues surrounding this project remain contentious and a hot topic for the residents.  The event was hosted by the Wainfleet Ratepayers and co-sponsored by Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Good Afternoon Interested Persons

I am writing to confirm that the hearing will commence at 10:00 a.m. from Monday, October 5^th and continue until Thursday, October 8^th, 2015. The Tribunal has reserved the Travelodge, located at 385 Queensway W., in Simcoe, Ontario. This information will also be available on the Tribunal’s website at http://elto.gov.on.ca/ert/hearings/ or alternatively I may be reached at this email for inquiries.

Sincerely,

Eva Pietrzyk

Case Coordinator | Planner

Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario

Environmental Review Tribunal | Niagara Escarpment Hearing Office | Office of Consolidated Hearings

655 Bay Street, Suite 1500, Toronto ON M5G 1E5

Tel.: (416) 314-4712 | Toll Free: 1(866) 448-2248

ERT Fax: (416) 314-4506 | ELTO Fax: (416) 326-5370

Email:eva.pietrzyk@ontario.ca | Alternate Email:ERT.NEHO.OCH.Case.Manager@ontario.ca Web:http://www.ert.gov.on.ca/english/home.html

We are committed to providing accessible services as set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.  If you have any accessibility needs, please contact our Accessibility Coordinator at ELTO@ontario.ca as soon as possible.  If you require documents in formats other than conventional print, or if you have specific accommodation needs, please let us know so we can make arrangements in advance.

A coalition of several community groups West Lincoln Glanbrook Action Group (WLGAG),  Wainfleet Ratepayers, and Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. (MAWTI)  are jointly demanding enforcement of the Radiating Emitting Devices Act in regards to the siting and operations of 77 x 3MW  Industrial Wind Turbines and seeking intervention over the issues of the approvals, permitting and placement of these turbines . Read the letter in its entirety below.

September 30, 2015

Dear Mr. Allison,

As executive officers of Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. (MAWTI), the West Lincoln Glanbrook Wind Action Group (WLGWAG) and the Wainfleet Ratepayers Association (WRA), we are writing to you at this time to seek your support in encouraging enforcement of the federal Radiation Emitting Devices Act.

A number of our members met with you on July 28, 2015 and raised a number of issues regarding industrial wind turbine projects within your riding.  We expressed concern with two particular issues and you indicated that you would follow up on them.  First, we raised the issue of Health Canada’s requirement for a $5000.00 fee to be paid before the raw data from their study on wind turbine noise could be released.  We have since been informed that researchers are prepared to pay the fee but are having some difficulty in sorting out which department holds which data and whether access to the “raw” data will be granted.    Continue reading Ontario Coalition Against Wind Turbines Letter to MP Dean Allison →

Environment Canada can’t block wind farms from being built close enough to throw off its weather radar readings, but it’s won the right to order turbines curtailed during severe weather in Southwestern Ontario, documents obtained by The London Free Pressshow.

Under a 32-page agreement negotiated with NextEra Canada, Environment Canada can order the Florida-based wind energy giant to reduce wind farm operations in extreme weather that could jeopardize public safety.

Following a call from Environment Canada to its operation centre in Juno Beach, Fla., Next­Era has 20 minutes to “feather,” or adjust, turbine blades back in Ontario so they won’t contaminate radar readings, according to the agreement provided to The Free Press under the federal Access to Information Act.

The curtailment can last up to an hour, but can be extended by Environment Canada if dangerous weather conditions — Southwestern Ontario is located in a tornado alley and heavy snow belt — persist.

Ground Zero for industrial turbines in Ontario, with the biggest and largest number of wind farms in the province, Southwestern Ontario has been a hotbed of rural opposition to the highrise-sized installations, which took off after the Liberal government began signing sweetheart deals with energy companies — paying them far more for their electricity than consumers pay — under its Green Energy Act in 2009.

But while much of the opposition to wind farms has come from activists concerned about health, land values and control over where the towers can be built, which the province took away from municipalities, the contamination of weather radar readings by spinning turbine blades — known as “clutter” — is an international concern.

read more: By John Miner, The London Free Press Sunday, September 27, 2015

Residents and friends who believe Prince Edward County is the wrong location for industrial wind turbines vowed to continue their fight to protect the south shore and its inhabitants.

A couple hundred participants at the ‘Too Big, Too Close, Too Many Rally’ joined hands Sunday and circled Mt. Tabor in a show of solidarity in disapproval of two wind projects that, if allowed to move forward, would result in “Too Many” – 36 industrial turbines in Athol and South Marysburgh townships – “Too Big” at 50 storeys each and “Too Close” for people and wildlife habitat.

The rally, hosted by the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC), featured an information session that included displays from other County groups including the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN) and the Coalitition for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy (CCSAGE).

Donations for legal appeals were accepted by PECFN for their ongoing Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) against Gilead Power’s nine turbines, expected to be continued in Demorestville at Oct. 27-29 and for the appeal by APPEC, over the wpd Canada White Pines project of 27 turbines that is expected to begin the first week of November in Wellington.

“It’s crucially important every seat at the Environmental Review Tribunal be filled for three days and ditto for in Wellington,” said councillor Steve Ferguson. “We have to let the tribunal know how people feel in South Marysburgh, and Prince Edward County at large.”

read more: http://countylive.ca/blog/?p=55741#.Vgnjyya7tNs.twitter

On the beach

Social media lit up. Suddenly, if you were anywhere near Ostitional Beach in Costa Rica earlier this month, you had to get down to the shoreline to observe an amazing natural phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of olive ridley turtles were crawling out of the ocean to lay their eggs in the sand. Soon, vacationers and daytrippers lined the beach. So many in fact, there was little space left for the turtles. Gleeful tourists waded into the surf to frollick among the landing party of large turtles. They snapped selfies and filled Facebook pages with images of the determined, purposeful animals. But with virtually all of the sandy beach occupied by gawkers and pests, many of the turtles turned back, retreating into the Pacific Ocean.

The incident has served to chasten Costa Rican conservation authorities about their stewardship of the vulnerable species. They are acting swiftly to improve their protection for the animal. Another wave of turtles is expected in early October. The Tempisque Conservation Area, which covers Ostitional Beach, plans to use security guards, police and the Coast Guard to secure the shoreline for the nesting turtles. It is unknown what long term effect, if any, the disruption of olive ridley turtles nesting behaviour will have on the species.

We are a bit less queasy about destroying the habitat of vulnerable turtles in Ontario. Despite warnings by its own expert that an industrial wind project would wreak havoc on a species considered at risk, Ontario’s Minstry of Natural Resources and Forestry issued the developer a permit to ‘harm, harass and kill’ the Blanding’s turtle.

The question we all must ask is: Why? Why does the Ontario government consider this vulnerable turtle to be expendable? Is it money? Can’t we afford to protect species at risk in this province? Costa Ricans earn about $10,000 per capita annually. In Canada, gross national income is about five times greater. Why is Costa Rica poised to act to protect its species at risk, while Ontario grants permits to kill them?

The town hall in Demorestville was expected to be full this morning as the Environmental Review Tribunal was scheduled to resume with Joe Crowley in the witness chair. On Tuesday the hearings were cancelled and rescheduled for the end of October.

Crowley is an at-risk specialist with the MNRF. He is the ministry’s turtle and snake expert. The Tribunal was nearing the end of a two-year-long appeal with the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN), a small but devoted group of conservationists arrayed against the province and a developer hoping to construct nine 50- storey-high industrial wind turbines and carve a road network into a rare alvar habitat on Crown land at Ostrander Point on Prince Edward County’s south shore.

read more:  http://wellingtontimes.ca/?p=14813