Liberty Reborn

The term NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) has often been used to stall projects related to the power industry (notably nuclear plants) even by those people that themselves want them to be built. Basically, they say “build” and then say “not here”. Well, the NIMBY effect may be expanding to new so-called “green” forms of energy too!

OARDMAN — Sherry Eaton pulled into the driveway of her rural, high-desert home to see one of several giant wind turbines being assembled a half-mile away.

“I started to cry,” Eaton, 57, recalled of her first sight of the Willow Creek Wind Project in late July. “They’re going to be hanging over the back of our house, and now there’s the medical thing.”
“The medical thing” is new research suggesting that living close to wind turbines, as Eaton and her 60-year old husband, Mike, soon will be doing, can cause sleep disorders, difficulty with equilibrium, headaches, childhood “night terrors” and other health problems.
…
Dr. Nina Pierpont of Malone, N.Y., coined the phrase “wind turbine syndrome” for what she says happens to some people living near wind energy farms. She has made the phrase part of the title of a book she’s written called “Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on the Natural Experiment.” It is scheduled for publication next month by K-Selected Press, of Santa Fe, N.M.

In contrast to those who consider wind turbines clean, green and an ideal source of renewable energy, Pierpont says living or working too close to them has a downside. Her research says wind turbines should never be built closer than two miles from homes.

…

Pierpont’s findings suggest that low-frequency noise and vibration generated by wind machines can have an effect on the inner ear, triggering headaches; difficulty sleeping; tinnitus, or ringing in the ears; learning and mood disorders; panic attacks; irritability; disruption of equilibrium, concentration and memory; and childhood behavior problems.

Is it true? Who really knows right now but I certainly wouldn’t doubt it. Everything we do has both positive and negative effects. There is always a trade off.

But wouldn’t it be a real kick in the teeth to the enviro-Marxist movement if their plans for “green” energy caused adverse health effects? And then on top of that they got to feel the force of the cries of “NIMBY” like so many others that they themselves have stonewalled have for decades?

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 2:34 pm and is filed under J.J. Jackson's Daily Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.