|
|
|
Climate changeIn early January 2016 Senator Day had a letter calling climate change a scam published in some South Australian newspapers.
How could anyone with any intelligence take these claims seriously? He went on to disparage renewable energy for what he claimed was its high cost (wind and solar PV are actually very competitive economically with new built coal and gas). He suggested that Australia should develop nuclear power (which he neglected to say was much more expensive than wind and solar power). He praised coal, while totally neglecting to mention the well proven health problems associated with air pollution resulting from the burning of coal. He called carbon dioxide 'plant food' and ignored the fact that it was making our oceans steadily more acidic. Finally, he neglected to mention the fact that fire danger (and the frequency of serious bushfires) was increasing (due to climate change). EvidenceSenator Day gave no supporting evidence for his claims – because there isn't any. Supporting evidence for my statements above can be read at the following sites:
|
Wind turbines and healthThere have been many reviews of the available evidence by the world's public health bodies and studies published in health science journals. Not one of these has concluded that wind turbines adversely impact human or animal health beyond some annoyance in some people. The list is too long to repeat on this page, I have tried to include links to the important articles in a page on wind turbines and health.On the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt that the burning of coal producing air pollution that kills millions world-wide each year and damages our atmosphere and our oceans through climate change. Senator Day has chosen to ignore the science and believe unsubstantiated claims and rumour. Why you should not believe that wind turbines cause illness
|
|
In early May 2015 Senator Day placed a page on his Internet site blaming
the environmental damage caused by rare earth mining on wind power.
Geology.com
gives the use of rare earth elements as:
"Rare earth metals and alloys that contain them are used in many devices that people use every day such as computer memory, DVDs, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and much more."Many types of mining in many third world nations is very destructive; rare earth mining might well be more destructive than most. Rare earth magnets are used in wind turbines; and rare earth elements are used in a great many other places in the modern world. On the other hand air pollution from the burning of coal kills millions of people each year, as reported by the World Health Organisation, and renewable energy, including wind power, displaces coal fired power. For example, in South Australia one coal fired power station at Port Augusta has been closed and the only other in the state is used only seasonally since the building of our wind farms. The burning of fossil fuels is also one of the main causes of disastrous climate change and ocean acidification. Of course there are environmental implications in the manufacture of wind turbines and the construction of wind farms, but they are much 'cleaner' than the fossil fuel alternatives. People like Senator Day use facts in a very misleading way. Shame on you Senator Day; Australians have a right to more honesty in their politicians. |
|
Senator Day had letters printed on at least some local newspapers in South
Australia in late June 2015.
He claimed that wind farms "cooled the air". It is, of course, a physical impossibility that they could significantly cool the air. Interestingly, other wind farm opponents have claimed the opposite, that a wind farm contribute to global warming by causing higher temperatures. Most tellingly he lamented the shutting down of the last coal fired power stations in South Australia and blaimed it on wind power. (He was right in that SA's wind power has made the coal fired power stations less profitable.) This statement at one time denied the urgent need to act on climate change; a need on which all clear-thinking people in the world agree, and is a contradiction of the claims commonly made by wind farm opponents who make statements such as:
While it is sad that people lose their jobs when coal fired power stations are shut down, it must happen if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided. It will continue to happen, there is ample evidence that the coal industry has no future. There were many jobs in the slave trade but no one laments their loss. |
Home Top |
|