Politicization of Wind Energy in Rural Canada

Politicization of Wind Energy in Rural Canada

This topic was brought to me by one of our newsletter subscribers named Ruby. She’s concerned that hundreds of wind turbines are moving into an area of Eastern Ontario where she and her husband plan to retire. She shared a noise level assessment with me and I did some research into other areas that fought against the turbines coming to their area, and won. Here's a write up about it from a group called Wind Concerns Ontario.

Admittedly though, this is not my area of expertise. Although I live in rural Ontario and live within driving distance of rows of wind turbines along Lake Huron and along the 402 highway, and I remember much of the opposition to wind turbines back when Ontario was first toying with the idea of bringing them here, I have not been following it lately.

That’s why I brought in Chad Walker. He’s an Assistant Professor in the School of Planning at Dalhousie University. He’s a researcher and teacher, studying the social ramifications of low carbon energy transitions, including things like wind turbines, wind farms and solar farm development, all across Canada and the UK. 

Chad has experience working with communities building sustainable energy systems that benefit the communities themselves, both financially and environmentally. He talks about his work with this Indigenous community in the episode.

He's also done research on the politicization of wind energy, specifically comparing Ontario and Nova Scotia.

This isn't the last time I'll tackle this issue, I'm trying to get the Conservation Authority perspective, so stay tuned for a part two on this one.

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