If you enjoy this blog, please share or leave a comment!
Long winded opinion: We need good science to wind up wind energy in Canada.
As most journalists, in Canada, failed to recognize the absurdity in Stephen Harper Government's wind safety study, our new evidence-based Government may start to make serious changes that will help Canada and our citizens. Journalists are not well suited to science journalism. Excellent science journalists seem even more rare than investigative journalists. Publications like Nature and Scientific American have some great ones, but in reality, how many newspapers in Canada could, or would, afford such folks?
How many knew that both Nature and Scientific American both reported on Harper Government's contempt of science? Nature even wrote about Canada's new chance to restore reality in our Great White North.
It's quite draining having to watch important science stories get fumbled, or completely missed, by the Canadian media. Canada has the highest scientific literacy in the world, but our journalism is certainly lacking. Even the journalism at CBC didn't see the blip on their "science radar".
The anti-wind groups in Canada still publish, and purport, debunked claims, and the Canadian media eats it up and publishes it. What's most wind-damaging is delaying the transition to green energy and the real consequences of ignoring the reality of both climate change and air pollution. With some predicting that 100 million people will die by 2030 from climate impacts, it seems CBC's radar needs an upgrade.
Stephen Harper's wind study actually accepted anecdotes as "scientific evidence", there were no scientific measurements taken on health impacts. They actually used stories as evidence. Wow. So, no science, no science journalism, no worries ?!?! No joke!
Our new Government will need to quickly eliminate these agnotology-based delusions and get wind energy in Canada sailing again, to help build our green future and make it healthier.
Canada's new Science Minister, Kirsty Duncan, and Safety Minister, Ralph Goodale, will need to clear these dumb-ALEC roadblocks fast. With Germany investing over US ~$66 billion in offshore wind, we see they are installing energy cheaper than nuclear, with less vertical cost. By 2020, the global offshore wind market will be worth US $40 billion. Canada needs to be part of delivering it, as well. Seems like we need to figure out What's Safe.
Canada has plenty of empty spaces for offshore wind. Is Ontario still “studying” offshore wind? Seems a quick schooling from Germany should show which way the winds are blowing.
Breath deep, now exhale. Enjoy!