Antinuclear

We need a proper judicial investigation of wind farm danger claims

Highlighting in bold an excerpt from a 2011 Daily Mail report, Day emphasised:

Whenever we purchase products that contain rare earth metals, we are unknowingly taking part in massive environmental degradation and the destruction of communities.

The subtext was plain: green wind energy supporters are indifferent to the environment and suffering and so are massive hypocrites.

A small problem with this accusation is that by far the main use of rare earths are not in wind turbine motors, but in a wide range of electronics that include billions of mobile phones, computers, DVDs and fluorescent lights, all of which Senator Day uses himself.

Senator Day, who has no training or experience in assessing medical evidence, also wrote to The Australian recently that he had heard “compelling” evidence about the adverse effects of wind turbines on humans and animals.

Day is one of six senators currently conducting what is the third Senate enquiry into wind farms in four years. The committee is chaired by the ex-Demcratic Labour Party (DLP) Senator John Madigan, a man who makes no secret of his loathing for wind farms and the industries which manufacturer and operate them:

I remain one of the wind industry’s most stubborn and outspoken critics (at 8m 27sec here).

He is joined by four other like-minded senators (Day, Chris Back, David Leyonhjelm, and Matthew Canavan) and a lone Labor Senator Anne Urquhardt.

Madigan is viewed as a hero by the anonymous authors of the virulently anti-wind farm website Stop These Things, a site which has over 15,000 Twitter followers, nearly all which have been generated from “follow-back” bots.

Against this background, here are some recommendations I’d like to make which are guaranteed to advance our knowledge about wind farms and health complainants, but which are highly unlikely to appear in the committee’s report. Sitting astride them all, is a proposal that a judicial investigator such as a retired judge should be appointed to investigate the evidence for the following claims by those strenuously insisting that their health is being affected by exposure to wind turbines.  Specifically, such a judge should investigate the following:

1. ‘Abandoned homes’

How many Australian families have really “abandoned” their homes near wind farms,………

2. Medical records

The judge should request the medical records of complainants from periods both before and after the operation of wind farms……

3. Has there ever been a wind disease diagnosis?

Next, public notices should be placed in the press and publicised in the attempt to find any medical practitioner who has ever diagnosed even a single case of “wind turbine syndrome” in Australia.

4. Experimental tests

Claims made by prominent opponents of wind farms that wind turbines can rock a stationary car at 1 km, cause lips to vibrate 10km away, “bring some men to their knees when out working in their paddock” near wind farms and be heard 100km away could be easily subjected to tests under blinded experimental conditions……..

5. Magical mystery tour

Similarly, Senator Madigan may like to cooperate in organising a fully supervised experiment where those claiming to be adversely affected by wind turbines at distances up to 10km could have this claim experimentally tested……..

While this inquisition rolls on in Australia, the rest of the world is powering away with growing wind energy. Leading nations are Denmark (34% of all electricity generated), Spain (21%), Portugal (more than 20%), Ireland (more than 16%) and Germany (9%). http://theconversation.com/lets-appoint-a-judge-to-investigate-bizarre-wind-farm-health-claims-41612

May 15, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, legal, wind