聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 On the way back from the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on September 14 and 15, I drove on a highway that had always intrigued me but that I had never had the opportunity to travel.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Highway No. 17 is unique in that it has signs indicating it is both an Alberta and Saskatchewan highway. Heading south from聽Lloydminster, it remains right on the border before skirting to the Alberta side and then crossing over to the Saskatchewan side. The first half hour or so of driving is dominated by heavy oil batteries on both sides of the road. These eventually peter out.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 where the highway crosses back into Saskatchewan again where the energy infrastructure gets interesting. There, on the horizon, are numerous white wind turbines. A few are so close to the border that I wondered if they cut into Saskatchewan airspace as they turn. 聽聽 Apparently, it was windy enough on the Alberta side to develop this wind farm, but for whatever reason, the political border might have been a wall.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I had this in my mind as I checked my email on September 19, which brought up something you don鈥檛 hear every day. A wind farm proposed near Chaplin had been denied approval.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The press release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment read, 鈥淓nvironment Minister Scott Moe announced a wind energy project near Chaplin will not be approved to proceed in its proposed location. 聽This decision was made after completing an environmental assessment process that included feedback from environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) and the public.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he environmental review for the proposed project near Chaplin identified environmental impacts of concern to the ministry, the primary concern relating to migratory bird activity in the area close to the site. The ministry received 137 responses during the public review process in 2015. All but one of these responses supported wind energy, but expressed concern over the development鈥檚 specific location.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It added, 鈥淎lgonquin Power had proposed to build the 177-megawatt wind-power facility on behalf of SaskPower, which would have included a maximum of 79 wind turbine generators, approximately 50 to 70 kilometres of access roads and 110 kilometres of trenched transmission lines.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But the most interesting thing is the statement, 鈥淭his was the first wind electricity project to undergo an environmental impact assessment.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What? Where鈥檚 the rubber stamp? I thought only the oil industry was evil! At least, that鈥檚 the message I get every time I turn on the TV. Pipelines are bad! Wind turbines are good! Heck, on the same day, none other than David Suzuki spoke in Regina and Saskatoon to lecture us on the environment.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A few years ago some ducks died in a tailings pond near Fort McMurray and the world went nuts. But how many protesters paint signs about the birds and bats that are whacked each day by the swooshing blades of wind turbines?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It appears that was a concern here. The province announced new siting guidelines for wind farms. A related announcement on the same day said, 鈥淎 five-kilometre buffer zone has been established around designated environmentally-sensitive avoidance areas such as national and provincial parks, ecological reserves, important bird areas and key Saskatchewan rivers. 聽In addition, proponents will still be required to evaluate wind energy project siting at areas outside of avoidance zones to ensure any potential environmental and wildlife impacts are still mitigated.
聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 鈥淭he guidelines were developed with industry and environmental stakeholders.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I wonder how many birds will die in Alberta as that province moves to replace its coal power generation to a large extent with wind turbines?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This denial is a tacit acknowledgement that wind turbines kill birds. Locating turbines away from 鈥渟ensitive areas鈥� might lessen the impact, but I鈥檝e yet to meet a bird that cares about what is defined on a map. They fly where they want to fly.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 eagerly anticipating the protestors driving from across the country to picket the next wind turbine installation. Perhaps some, like at least one Ford Explorer driver on the way to pipeline protests in North Dakota, will run out of gas while his or her windows are scrawled with 鈥淥il spill oil kills!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Turns out windmills kill, too. Otherwise there would be no problem putting them anywhere you damned well pleased.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The difference is that pipelines only kill wildlife when something goes horribly wrong, such as the North Saskatchewan River spill this past summer. Wind turbines, on the other hand, kill birds on a regular basis throughout their entire existence.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Where are the protesters for that?
