To be cliché, nuclear’s back yard is much bigger than that of wind energy. Radiation from the Fukushima meltdowns has been reported all around the globe, and is CAUSING crop and animal sicknesses on the US west coast. Chernobyl has caused over 200,000 deaths, and many millions of illnesses (cancers and otherwise), most from radiation related sicknesses in people that did not live close to the accident site (ie: many in Ukraine and Belarus, but ALSO as far away as Germany, France, and even the UK). While a small group of people complain that noisy windmills are disrupting their sleep and giving them headaches (NOTE that these complaints never come from people who actually own turbines), those living adjacent to the same water bodies as nuclear plants (even up to several hundred kilometers away) risk infertility, multiple forms of cancer, and radiation sickness, and those within even a few hundred kilometers of a gas or coal generator risk suffering from poisoned water, lung disease, and asthma. The tragic truth is that hundreds of people die every year in Ontario because of the coal and nuclear COMPONENTS of our energy system. Wind energy is not killing people. Replacing coal and nuclear with a mix of other sources, including wind energy, can actually save lives.

To be cliché, nuclear’s back yard is much bigger than that of wind energy. Radiation from the Fukushima meltdowns has been reported all around the globe, and is causing crop and animal sicknesses on the US west coast. Chernobyl has caused over 200,000 deaths, and many millions of illnesses (cancers and otherwise), most from radiation related sicknesses in people that did not live close to the accident site (ie: many in Ukraine and Belarus, but also as far away as Germany, France, and even the UK). While a small group of people complain that noisy windmills are disrupting their sleep and giving them headaches (note that these complaints never come from people who actually own turbines), those living adjacent to the same water bodies as nuclear plants (even up to several hundred kilometers away) risk infertility, multiple forms of cancer, and radiation sickness, and those within even a few hundred kilometers of a gas or coal generator risk suffering from poisoned water, lung disease, and asthma. The tragic truth is that hundreds of people die every year in Ontario because of the coal and nuclear components of our energy system. Wind energy is not killing people. Replacing coal and nuclear with a mix of other sources, including wind energy, can actually save lives.