Earth First! Blockades Giant Industrial Wind Turbines in Pristine Wilderness

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Thu, 2010-07-08 21:46

ivujica

poster united-ontario5 by ivona vujica

Earth First! Blockades Giant Industrial Wind Turbines in Pristine Wilderness

“If we really want to look at how the North Woods can mitigate climate change, we should restore our forest and protect sensitive ecosystems, like those on Sisk and Kibby Mountain,” said Ryan Clark of Maine Earth First! “

“In the face of the Gulf Oil Disaster, and massively destructive coal mining, we recognize the value of developing alternative energy systems,” said Meg Gilmartin of Maine Earth First! “But these projects are a perfect example of how corporations and investors are taking advantage of the climate and energy crises to make profits while avoiding accountability.
We don’t view projects on this industrial scale as being the solution to our problems.”

TransCanada, the transnational corporation responsible for the devastating practice of tar sands oil extraction in Alberta, Canada,[and privatizing energy production in Ontario] has already built 24 mammoth turbines on Kibby Mountain, and has begun construction of an additional 22 turbines, a process that includes significant road building and wide transmission line corridors. These projects ... threaten to permanently change the face of Maine’s North Woods, the largest undeveloped wilderness east of the Mississippi river. Both Sisk and Kibby Mountain projects will reap huge benefits for TransCanada and the landowner Plum Creek.

http://windconcernsontario.wordpress.com/

http://maine.earth-first.net/2010/07/earth-first-blockades-giant-industr...

http://rabble.ca/babble/introductions/private-industrial-energy-farms-on...

http://www.rabble.ca/babble/introductions/lights-out-armenias-ontario-pr...

Issues Pages:

Environment

Regions:

Thu, 2010-07-08 23:34

Boom Boom

Good link. Putting windmills in pristine forest is insane.

Fri, 2010-07-09 18:54

George Victor

Putting wind turbines in view of the upper middle class of Ontario (or anywhere0 is a reminder that there is a problem!

Fri, 2010-07-09 22:59

Boom Boom

Downtown Toronto's financial district sounds like a good location for wind turbines.

Sat, 2010-07-10 01:36

ivujica

local distributed integrated environmentally sound cool community-empowering energy system in Ontario

we should preserve and restore our forests, farmlands and communities, and protect [all including] sensitive ecosystems

we don’t view energy projects on this industrial scale and of this type of ownership as being the solution to our problems

corporations and investors are taking advantage of the climate and energy crises to make profits while avoiding accountability = threaten to permanently change the largest undeveloped wilderness = forced electricity cuts to the poor called "energy efficiencies" = pollution = deforestation = loss of local sovereignty and the ability to make and implement decisions for the benefit of our communities = out of sight out of mind energy = long distance transmission lines = energy disconnected from environment, health, economy, communities = energy as a source of irreversible destruction

"We will not stand by and allow our treasured public lands to be marred forever by a corporate giveaway to private industrial energy developers”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/29wind.html

"Public Power: Energy Production in the 21st Century"

"People fighting private unnatural gas, coal, nuclear, industrial energy farms - and also those sitting around and blogging - have the same objectives and should be joining hands in one strong fight for the energy system WE want to see grow in Ontario"

http://rabble.ca/babble/introductions/private-industrial-energy-farms-ontario-responding-your-comments

local distributed integrated environmentally sound cool community-empowering energy system in Ontario

Mon, 2010-07-12 07:57

Don Coyote

A small wind turbine in your backyard with a battery back-up is green energy.

Industrial Wind Turbines INCREASE our dependency on fossil fuels, are erected

by the fossil fuel industry, allows the fossil fuel industry to pollute more through

carbon credits, they make people sick, drive people living a sustainable existence

off their land, cause deforestation, cause neighbours to fight with their neighbours,

kill birds and bats, drive worms off the land... meanwhile these MULTI-NATIONAL

corporations are laughing their way to the banks with our money.

Before throwing your support behind these multi-nationals, consider learning how the grid works.

Unless you can store the energy from wind turbines, fossil fuels will be here to stay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvlqd3kQTAU

Tue, 2010-07-13 01:24

ivujica

Premier McGuinty is " always looking for new ideas."

https://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/feedback.asp?Lang=EN

Ontarians have thrown their support behind the public renewable energy, SUPPORTIVE OF our water, food, land, forests, environment, nature, health, economy, future, and Access to energy

McGuinty government has thrown back at us:

PRIVATIZATION AND MILITARIZATION OF ENERGY

1) bills which deny Ontarians any power of decision making and implementation regarding energy/environment/health/kids'future/livelihoods in their communities;

2)police intimidation and threatening visits to homes of those who are not shut up by the bills

3)Ontario is on a hair-trigger alert for mobilization a full blown military force to protect the gates of the private energy corporations in Ontario.

Instead of having an opportunity to recreate our energy system in the spirit of our current environmental situation, we are faced with an energy system which is increasingly privatized and militarized - some call this "green."

The private energy farms / private gas corps are not in Ontario because we support them - we don't!

So how come they're here? Where is the problem? What is the problem? How was it created? Who created it?

Do we tend to answer these questions as we are fighting a private energy corp in our backyard?

Many communities in Ontario are fighting their isolated battles in parallel to each other - without seeing each other or connecting to each other. These fights are divided into their respective cantons: anti-nuke/coal canton; anti- gas canton; anti-industrial wind farm canton.

Some of these isolated fights give licence to private energy corps to go to "my neighbour's backyard."

Some cantons end up ignoring/attacking other cantons. E.g. anti nuke/coal canton throws support behind and is supported by private gas corps, ignoring the consequences of gas mining/fracturing and burning on the environment as well as the privatization of energy in Ontario - shame!

Green ngos and associations are supporting and are supported by the private industrial energy farm corps, promoting the energy privatization in Ontario - shame! They are happy to quote "scientific research" in support of private wind farms, while ignoring the voices of people who are living!!! with the first hand knowledge & running away to survive the consequences of the private industrial energy farms in Ontario - shame!

Anti-industrial wind farm people do not raise issues with coal/gas/nuclear burning/mining or privatization of energy in Ontario - or maybe they do!@? = How would we know - when our basic intention has boiled down to ignoring each other and cursing each other based on our class differences and vested interests > losing out of focus our basic common goal:

public local distributed integrated environmentally sound cool community-empowering energy system in Ontario - NOW!

What's on display is the concern for "my backyard"/ "my monetary gain" - and not the concern for the basic prerequisite for life on earth: environment! NOR the concern with the privatization of energy and the concurrent withdrawal of our civil liberties - a basic condition for irreversible liquidation of the environment! NOR our common goal: public integrated cool renewable energy which is local and distributed and in tune with all our other goals.

Tue, 2010-08-03 00:21

ivujica

http://www.citizensforpublicpower.ca/issues/wind

BC Citizens for Public Power is highly critical of the current government’s approach to developing wind energy in BC. The provincial government has arbitrarily decided that all future wind farm developments in BC must be undertaken by private power producers. It has handed over the right to monitor wind velocities, on hundreds of thousands of hectares of Crown land, to private developers and provided huge subsidies to encourage private investment in this sector. The Liberal government has also directed BC Hydro to purchase some of this energy at extremely high prices so that developers can obtain the capital required to finance their projects.

The result is that a valuable resource which should be kept in public hands for future generations of British Columbians is being handed over to private—often foreign—interests with no benefit to the people of BC. Moreover, as with the run-of-river (ROR) IPPs, the government’s commitment to facilitating energy exports by private interests means that despite the enormous public subsidies being provided to private wind farms, we have no guarantee that most of this renewable energy will not eventually be exported to the US.

BC Citizens for Public Power believes that BC Hydro should be the owner and developer of the province’s wind resources. This approach facilitates proper integration with the province’s public system, while ensuring that citizens maintain ownership and control over this valuable resource for future generations.

To implement this approach, the provincial government should discontinue giving out land occupancy permits to private wind developers. It should also impose a moratorium on further private wind farm development and halt the lucrative energy supply contracts being given out by BC Hydro. Further, the government should stop subsidizing private power interests and allow BC Hydro to develop wind energy projects as part of our public utility. Finally, the province should stop private wind energy exports to ensure that the output of wind farms will be prioritized to meet the energy needs of British Columbians.