This consultation was open from:
October 17, 2018
to December 1, 2018
We decided to make a new regulation to require that the closure of the White Pines Wind Facility is carried out in a way that is protective of human health and the environment.
The mothers and their children took a walk on May 27, 2013 protesting the Summerhaven Wind project that was under construction at the time. We marched together providing a record and demonstration of our non consent to the wind project. It also spiked a lot of interest from the Ontario Provincial Police and wind project security. The police decided they needed to be present with a marked police escort and their undercover members.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines remains firm in giving a thumbs down to industrial wind. We have not remained silent. We will not remain silent. No still means no.
Ontario Wind Resistance posting May 2013: Mothers March to Say NO!
A successful goal setting retreat was recently hosted by Mothers Against Wind Turbines (MAWT) and West Lincoln Glanbrook Wind Action Group (WLGWAG). Participants came from wind action groups,area residents and other interested stakeholders. Under the skilled guidance of Facilitator: Georgina Richardson a meeting of the minds occurred. Helping those of us negatively impacted by industrial wind turbine sort through chaos, set mutual goals and put into place action plans on how to move forward and what to leave behind.
The fight is far from over.
“With each oversized, out-of-scale, in-your-face wind project presented, scores of people join the not-so-quiet ‘war on wind’ raging nationwide…. While Big Media and Big Wind are busy forcing the vision they want, communities are taking aggressive action to limit wind’s negative impacts and will ultimately lead to far fewer projects being built.”
Lisa Linowes – June 27, 2016
A journalist recently contacted windaction.org with questions about Colorado’s latest wind project sponsored by utility giant, Xcel Energy. The 600 MW, 300 turbine, $1.04 billion Rush Creek wind ‘farm’, if built, will span 150 square miles of Colorado’s sensitive eastern grasslands. To deliver the energy to market, Xcel must also construct a 90-mile 345 kv transmission line along a 150-foot wide right-of-way. The project is massive by any measure and the largest considered by the state. Yet, according to the reporter, no one local has raised any concerns which explains the call. Even the reporter — a freelancer from New Jersey where just five turbines (9 MW) spin — admitted having no idea wind had issues.
And why would anyone …?
Big media coverage is dominated by feel-good stories of cheap renewables (and now, apparently, cheap storage) overtaking coal and nuclear. The press, prodded by industry mouthpieces, never misses an opportunity to advocate for federal and state subsidies and their sister mandates that spur green ‘investment’ and leave the public believing that a world of all renewables, all the time is almost here. 
Nice vision, but far from real. In fact, with each oversized, out-of-scale, in-your-face wind project presented, scores of people join the not-so-quiet “war on wind” raging nationwide. For proof, just look at a few of the news stories from the last 45 days:
1) In Indiana, a judge ruled Rush County’s decision to impose larger safety setback distances on the Flat Rock wind facility (180 MW) was reasonable to protect health and preserve property values. The decision is likely to end the project. Another suit pending in Fayette Circuit Court against a NextEra project argues the decommissioning plan violates county regulations. And in Henry County, the Planning Commission denied two applications to erect meteorological towers used for measuring wind speed and direction. The towers are the first step in siting a wind project. Each vote to deny was met with applause and a standing ovation from the public.
2) Blowback over wind turbines impairing military operations prompted the North Carolina state senate to pass a bill restricting turbine sites. State leaders recognized the importance of protecting the economic benefits derived from hosting military bases, including thousands of jobs. Local benefits delivered by wind pale in comparison. Similar concerns are being raised in New York and Texas, where the Texas legislature is also considering a bill to protect military base missions.
3) A proposal to erect 2-dozen turbines standing up to 660-feet tall in Cumberland County, Tennessee has outraged residents and caught the attention of Senator Lamar Alexander, Congresswoman Diane Black, State Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) and Representative Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), all of whom are united in their opposition to the project. Senator Bailey highlighted one of the many failings of the proposal when he wrote “The wind turbine project proposed for Cumberland County would take us in the wrong direction for economic development in the Upper Cumberland. Tourism is over a $17 billion industry in Tennessee and it would be a step backwards to mar our scenic beauty with unsightly turbines.”
4) Wyoming’s Joint Revenue Committee has asked its staff to draft two bills that would increase taxes on wind, including one that would require wind developers to transfer a portion of the federal wind production tax credit to state coffers. When Converse County commissioner, Jim Willox, insisted the severance tax on oil and gas can’t be compared to a tax on wind since the fossil industry removes (severs) non-renewable products from the ground and are forever lost, State Senator Cale Case snapped back that wind turbines destroyed viewsheds. “With wind, that viewshed is lost forever. It is severed,” he said. Talk of taxing wind has delayed the outlandish 1,000 turbine, 3,000 MW Chokecherry Sierra Madre. [1]
5) In Vermont, the electorate is inflamed over the visual, environmental and health impacts of the spinning towers. Governor Peter Shumlin has been described as one who “loves wind turbines and hates the people who live next to them.” He is leaving office this year to the delight of many. At least three of the candidates vying for his seat – Bruce Lisman, Peter Galbraith, Brooke Paige – are openly running on a ‘NO Wind’ platform.
We could go on describing the intense fights now happening in New York, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Massachusetts … you get the picture. But don’t expect big media to notice. After all, these fights don’t fit the national narrative honed by the wind industry that up-plays the image of turbines operating in concert with man and nature and downplays, or flatly denies the harms. While big media and big wind are busy forcing the vision they want, communities are taking aggressive action to limit wind’s negative impacts and will ultimately lead to far fewer projects being built.
[1] The State of Wyoming is the only state that imposes a wind energy tax which equates to $1 per MWh.
“Kristi Rosenquist has proven again and again that individual activists can make a difference in the never-ending battle against the regulatory power of the state. Her energy, attention to detail and courage have made this rural Minnesotan a power to be reckoned with.”
Kristi Rosenquist isn’t one to rest on her laurels.
This spring, for instance, she’s battling the wind industry yet again, trying to persuade members of the Minnesota Legislature that the state needs better noise standards for siting wind turbines because those spinning noise-makers are now allowed as close as 500 feet from residents’ homes.
The state uses noise standards not designed for turbines, Rosenquist argues. She said the state needs to eliminate the standard and create a new one.
“That means, in my opinion, they shouldn’t build any more turbines until they have new siting standards,” she told Watchdog.org.
The latest fight is just one of a long list of Herculean efforts by Rosenquist in the fight against big government and the green energy industry, which began with a personal battle to protect her own hobby farm.
“I said, ‘That’s not happening,’” Rosenquist remembered.
She fought the law and got the county to change how it administered it. The victory was an eye-opening experience for someone who had never before been active in a political crusade. As important as anything, she learned that when someone leads, others will follow.
“The great news is there are plenty of people who will come when I need help,” she said.
Inspired by that first success, Rosenquist turned her attention to the proposed New Era Wind Farm in Goodhue County, one of many such projects slated for development to meet state and federal renewable energy mandates and take advantage of federal subsidies.
Residents questioned its location near homes and the impact on area wildlife, particularly eagles. Local opposition stymied the project and Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens pulled out. Despite $15 million spent on permits and other miscellaneous costs, the project died.
Rosenquist continued to fight against wind farms, working with lawmakers to craft legislation to change Minnesota turbine siting standards in 2011 and continuing to push the issue at the local and state levels.
READ MORE: http://watchdog.org/266370/unsung-hero-kristi-rosenquist-tilts-wind-farms/
Vermont prides itself on having citizen legislators, as opposed to professional politicians, while the lobbying in Montpelier for special interests is done by well-funded professional lobbyists.
For the past eight years, our legislators and regulators have been bombarded by renewable-energy lobbyists. The message has been that Vermont must do “everything” and we must “do it now” to save the planet from climate change.
The urgency of the pitch has made it seem as if Vermont alone is responsible for the emissions that cause climate change.
This message has been delivered by the well-paid lobbyists at VPIRG (the Vermont Public Interest Group), REV (Renewable Energy Vermont), KSE Partners (the lobbyists who represent Green Mountain Power and Iberdrola Renewables), and a long list of people who view Vermont as a candy jar for collecting extravagant renewable-energy incentives.
The lobbyists’ circular strategy involves promoting an array of state energy goals that have no basis in our true energy and emissions profile. They then insist to the Legislature that there must be no barriers to erecting inappropriate projects because these same “state goals require it.”
The result is a state energy policy that has produced an avalanche of unintended consequences so appalling that the Selectboards of more than 160 towns signed the Rutland Resolution, which asks the Legislature to take another look at the lack of clear standards for siting renewable energy projects.
In recent days, the Senate and the House unanimously passed slightly different versions of S.230 — a bill “relating to improving the siting of energy projects” — in spite of furious lobbying by the renewable-energy industry.
The story of S.230 is highly instructive, because the pros weren’t the only lobbyists in the capital. For weeks, the committee rooms of the Senate and House have been filled to overflowing with unofficial “citizen lobbyists,” identifying themselves by wearing neon green safety vests.
The legislators learned that the Vermonters most opposed to big wind and solar sprawl include those who know the most about the subjects because they deal with the unintended consequences every day and because they have studied the issues.
The legislators heard firsthand the bitter results of a regulatory policy of “any solar, anywhere, anytime.”
They learned about the tragedies in Lowell, Sheffield, and Georgia Mountain of nearby residents driven from their homes, or to distraction, by wind-turbine noise far exceeding what the developer promised.
To prevail on S.230, we, the people lobbied on our own behalf — tirelessly and effectively.
The result is that “we” have been heard.
“We” are the people who live near already existing large wind installations.
“We” include the folks threatened by similar projects in Swanton, Irasburg, Grafton, and Windham who want justification for issuing certificates of public good for utility generation on ridgelines and near settlements.
“We” are the people from towns where solar arrays have been placed in disregard of local policies, preferences, and Town Plans.
“We” are Vermonters who have donned our green vests in solidarity and went to Montpelier and walked the halls and haunted the cafeteria of the Statehouse, just as the big-money lobbyists do.
“We” talked to the legislators.
“We” testified before committees.
And “we” learned a lot.
None of us citizen lobbyists opposes renewable energy. None of us denies the need for Vermonters to do our part in reducing emissions.
But we do oppose allowing those who profit most having total control of what gets built and where. And we oppose squandering our state’s natural resources and heritage on projects that will not help slow climate change.
The lesson is this: in a state with a citizen legislature where big money increasingly influences policy decisions, there is no substitute for well-informed, articulate, and persistent citizen lobbyists to represent our own interests.
If we don’t do it, who will?
READ AT: http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=14722&page=1#.VzPnybv2bIU
Finally the truth about health impacts from industrial wind turbines are being exposed!
DUKE ENERGY’s Shirley Wind Turbines Declared a “HUMAN HEALTH HAZARD”
It seems the neighbors who are too close may not be crazy or making things up after all. Finally a governing body with the courage to acknowledge what the neighbors have been saying all along. We are suffering in various ways from Hoosac Wind, along with EVERY community in Massachusetts, indeed the World that has IWT’s located too close to neighbors. It’s been almost 2 years, or about 725 days have passed from when Hoosac Wind fired up and we are still missing freedom to enjoy our properties and quality as life before Hoosac Wind.
Here in Massachusetts most of the studies so far have been sound monitoring that has been a farce at best (including inappropriately placed monitoring equipment). With limited monitoring IWT’s have been found to be substantially out compliance at Hoosac Wind, yet the neighbors are still suffering. The responses so far from you you have been few and far between. Don’t you care, or please explain why we haven’t heard from you very much? You may be busy or maybe it’s not your responsibility, yet this is important to the neighbors. I feel it’s hopeless that any of you have sympathy enough to reach out personally, or maybe you don’t believe us or believe we should have sympathy? I’ve been informed by MassDEP personnel, some are fearful of loosing their jobs if not careful. I’m sorry, but the neighbors lost far more, and through no fault of our own. Sooner or later the facts will be known by more than just the neighbors, and I hope we will ALL be able to sleep. How are you all sleeping?
According experts advising us, the proposal to serrate the edges of the turbine blades will still have the neighbors of Crum Hill being pummeled by NOISE and infra sound.That modification typically only lowers sound levels by 1-2 dBa. Additionally, will not lower noise levels by the 7 dBa that Hoosac Wind was documented above state regulation, and maybe propaganda to make it seem that Iberdrola is concerned about the neighbors. We are informed the only realistic way for the Hoosac Wind to comply would be to curtail operations when the project is too loud and that continuous monitoring is necessary. The neighbors don’t have official evidence as yet, but we are aware of that even higher sound levels are bombarding our neighborhoods from the project. Seemingly the neighbors of Bakke Mountain side of the project are hopeless as MassDEP informed us there is no evidence Hoosac Wind is out of compliance and no plans to monitor. How will facts be known if no measurement is taking place? Iberdrola is receiving millions of taxpayers subsidies for this project yet and we are left to pick up the broken pieces on our own. Health and quality of life are some of the things taken from the neighbors because of Hoosac Wind.
For your reference a list of impacts the neighbors are experiencing. Sleep loss is the most common complaint from the neighbors resulting in various symptoms, and it’s well known to negatively affect health. Other symptoms reported, anxiety and feelings of stress, headaches, sinus issues, tinnitus, ear aches, numbness, irritability, palpitations of the heart, increase in blood pressure, fatigue, and lapse of memory. This list is in no particular order and by no means complete. Additional complaints from the neighbors, property value loss, wells not providing same quantities of water before blasting of the ridges, silting and addition of mineral materials in wells, and stream flows disrupted on properties. Many of us no longer enjoy being outside our homes when the turbines are noisy or in them for that matter. Indeed it’s beautiful in this area and not being able to enjoy our yards has no value limits. We just want to enjoy what’s legally our right, to pursue happiness in our homes and properties and not be subjected to human health hazards and other impacts from the nearby wind turbines at Hoosac Wind.
Sincerely Larry Lorusso
Clarksburg MA
PS I’m not the only one!
sourse FB: https://www.facebook.com/HoosacWindWatch?hc_location=timeline
Approval of a 77-turbine project from the province could come any day and a group of residents opposed to its existence is doing anything but silently waiting.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc (MAWT) is bracing for a fight, much like their comrades in the West Lincoln Glanbrook Wind Action Group have been. While the latter group is awaiting a decision from the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) the newer group is gathering information and raising funds to mount its own fight against a much larger project.
Niagara Region Wind Corporation (NRWC) submitted its renewable energy approval application 10 months ago and residents have been preparing for its approval ever since. Should it be approved, 77 turbines will rise on the rural landscape of West Lincoln, Wainfleet and Haldimand. Forty-four of them are slated for the community of West Lincoln, with the majority in the Wellandport and St. Anns areas.
Last week MAWT (Inc) invited members of the public to an information session at Covenant Christian School in Smithville where they provided an update on both the NRWC and IPC Energy projects and asked for support.
“A Charter challenge is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Deb Murphy, co-chair of WLGWAG and a new paralegal who represented Anne Fairfield at her ERT hearing last month. “The average person, the average group can’t even begin to think about that.”
The issue with taking wind proponents to court, said Murphy, is the process. While an environmental review tribunal can only rule on whether or not a project will impact health — human, animal or environmental — it is the first step in a lengthy process to fight the projects she said. This is the case with WLGWAG’s appeal which was launched by Fairfield after the project was approved and again when the province approved an amendment to the project after it was discovered that four of the five turbines were placed too close to neighbouring properties then regulations allow. The tribunal could not rule on the process, explained Murphy, only on whether or not the amended application would harm health.
“You can’t skip it. You have to go to the ERT and lose that then appeal,” said Murphy, noting it cost WLGWAG $4,000 in copying alone to prepare for the hearing. “It sucks. Thirty one of 32 ERTs lose.”
While the ERT was costly in paper, the next step, divisional court, will cost even more warned Murphy who noted paralegals can’t represent the group in the next stage meaning to have a fighting chance a lawyer is required. Murphy also warned that timelines will be tight as the group will have only 15 days from the time the project is approved to launch its appeal.
Luckily for both groups they have been granted intervenor status in a constitutional challenge launched by three groups fighting turbines in Goderich, St. Columbian and Kincardine. A total of 15 groups in Ontario similar to MAWT (Inc.) and WLGWAG are also included as intervenors on the case which will head to court in November.
It cost each group about $6,000 to participate, said Murphy, who expects wind proponents to challenge any victory granted to groups like MAWT (Inc).
“If we win, you know the wind companies will fight it,” she said. “It could take a long time.”
To raise funds for legal fees MAWT(Inc) is selling tree seedlings, T-shirts and lawn signs. The group also hosts garage sales and is always taking donations of gently used items. The group has a goal of raising $100,000 to cover legal costs each step of the way.
The group is also looking for volunteers to help with fundraising, research and writing and seeks the advice of experts in various fields from legal to technical.
“If we don’t have legal counsel it will be tough for us,” said Lois Johnson, MAWT (Inc) member. “The time to donate is now.
The group is also asking that anyone living within 2.5 kilometres of the NRWC project area determine their receptor number — which is based on the distance between the turbine and home. Those numbers will help the group prepare evidence in relation to noise disturbance from the turbines should they be erected.
“If you’re on the list, we need to talk to you,” Johnson said.
For more information on the group or to donate visit mothersagainstturbines.com
MAWT inc is hosting an information meeting Oct. 16 in Smithville (At Smithville Covenant Christian School, at 7:30 pm Here is a copy of the info flyer we are sending out. Please invite your friends and neighbours. We look forward to seeing you there.
A copy of this ad will be placed in rural mailboxes in West Lincoln, St. Anns, Wellandport and Caistor Centre next week.
MAWT Inc
MAWT Inc. Meeting Brochure for Meeting PDF
MAWT Inc. worked cooperatively and tiredlessly with Wainfleet Ratepayers Association at booths set up at both Canal Days and at the Wainfleet Fair.
We are all working together to protect our communities and safe guard all impacted residents.
Each dollar received and raised is accounted for and will be used 100% for these issues.Below are a few pictures that were snapped between educating and the selling of Raffle Tickets at the Wainfleet Fair.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. 