“There’s nothing that does so much harm as good intentions.”

“Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.”

– Milton Friedman

On May 24, 2015, Pope Francis issued his ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI (Praise Be To You) OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE OF OUR COMMON HOME.

The 184-page letter consists of 246 paragraphs of which seven (paragraphs 20–26) are devoted to POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE. This document followed a one-day conference, Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity: The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, to which The Heartland Institute and Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) sent scientific representatives. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to speak at the conference; but they created sensational news across the world by well attended press conferences.…

“Out-of-control windfarm development is hurting many protected species, riding as it does on the optimistic estimates put out by hired consultants, government agencies, bird societies, the wind industry and its agents, and pro-wind activists. It is also facilitated by considerable flows of public money, in the form of subsidies, tax credits, special loans, carbon certificates, and more. These millions of dollars (billions in those countries that have thousands of wind turbines) enable private interests to remove all obstacles to their greed, and this includes overriding nature protection legislation.”

Something obviously happened between the high mortality found in the early days of wind farms (see the work of biologists such as Winkelman, Benner, Lekuona, and Everaert) and present estimates as low as one bird per turbine/year being “predicted” in Australia (see post yesterday), France, the UK, and other countries.…

“It is my duty, as President of the World Council for Nature, to bring to your attention the true extent of the carnage which is taking place at wind farms around the world, including in Australia. The deception being staged by consultants in order to fool people and their governments will have unfathomed consequences for wildlife, biodiversity, natural habitats, and the health of forests and agriculture. We are facing widespread corrupt behavior, which is putting private interests ahead of the common good.”

Distinguished Senators of the Commonwealth of Australia:

Australian members of our organisation have complained to us that mortality predictions being used in Australia to assess the impacts of wind turbines on birds and bats are minimised to a level that thoroughly misleads decision makers. To wit, in a widely used report prepared for the Australian Government by consultant Biosis Research Pty Ltd, we read (p.…

“The Council of Canadian Academies continues to rehash selected studies to further wind turbine development–and set aside wind turbine complaints as only a nuisance for public-health officials. Dismissing white papers as ‘grey’ and neighbors’ documentation of harm just adds to the number of wind-turbine victims…. Public health studies should not appear to be performed with blind eyes and deaf ears.”

This question was posed by the Council of Canadian Academies (CAA): Is there evidence to support a causal association between exposure to wind turbine noise and the development of adverse health effects? The answer given was that only personal attitude and annoyance resulted for those in direct proximity to wind turbines.

However, real people and real studies have been ignored to reach this conclusion.

The CCA supports the status quo for wind turbines by failing to recognize that wind turbines operating in quiet rural communities produce the most significant adverse health effects. …