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Wind turbine syndrome: Farm hosts tell a very different story
The comments for this article are well worth taking a look at.
Wind turbine syndrome: Farm hosts tell a very different story
By Simon Chapman on 18 September 2013
The Conversation
People who host wind turbines on their properties and derive rental income from wind energy companies have important stories to tell about living alongside turbines, but they’ve largely been absent from the debate on wind farms and health. Australian filmmaker and researcher Neil Barrett is finally giving this critical group a voice in his new short film, The way the wind blows, released today.
In Barrett’s short film, 15 hosts and some of their neighbours from the central Victorian district near the town of Waubra tell what it’s like to live surrounded by large turbines.
Turbine hosts at Waubra earn A$8,000 a year for each turbine on their land. In the bush, the expression that wind farms can “drought-proof a farm” is common: a land owner with ten turbines can wake up each morning comfortable in the thought that a tough year with poor rain or bad frosts can be ridden out, thanks to income from wind generation.
All of Barrett’s interviewees say they can hear the turbines but none say they are bothered by them or suffer from any health problems they attribute to the turbines. If there is such a phenomenon as “wind turbine syndrome” it would seem it is a condition that, remarkably, can be prevented by the wonder drug called money.
Significantly, too, none of those interviewed ...
By Simon Chapman on 18 September 2013
The Conversation
People who host wind turbines on their properties and derive rental income from wind energy companies have important stories to tell about living alongside turbines, but they’ve largely been absent from the debate on wind farms and health. Australian filmmaker and researcher Neil Barrett is finally giving this critical group a voice in his new short film, The way the wind blows, released today.
In Barrett’s short film, 15 hosts and some of their neighbours from the central Victorian district near the town of Waubra tell what it’s like to live surrounded by large turbines.
Turbine hosts at Waubra earn A$8,000 a year for each turbine on their land. In the bush, the expression that wind farms can “drought-proof a farm” is common: a land owner with ten turbines can wake up each morning comfortable in the thought that a tough year with poor rain or bad frosts can be ridden out, thanks to income from wind generation.
All of Barrett’s interviewees say they can hear the turbines but none say they are bothered by them or suffer from any health problems they attribute to the turbines. If there is such a phenomenon as “wind turbine syndrome” it would seem it is a condition that, remarkably, can be prevented by the wonder drug called money.
Significantly, too, none of those interviewed ...
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/wind-turbine-syndrome-farm-hosts-tell-a-very-different-story-84748
Videos of interviews here:
Waubra - The Way the Wind Blows
Waubra’s residents tell their stories
http://www.vicwind.org.au/waubra-videos
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I’ve had my … mobile phone go into charge mode in the middle of the paddock, away from everywhere.
Free charging of your phone!
... and a far bigger one for the comments - really guys, you've got to read them!
My morning stroll through E/E is often a sad affair as most of the posts tend
to be neutral at best and some (e.g., recent elephant & porpoise ones) being
downright maddening. This morning I had to mop little tears from the corners
of my eyes from laughing at some of the responses in those comments.
Read & enjoy (*) - it is worth the time!
(*) with the possible exception of a certain astroturfer from wind-watch.org
