Hope. We all seek it in 2020.

But, last Friday I stood with a few neighbours watching in complete confusion as multiple transport trucks with fleets of pilot vehicles taking the remains of the wind turbines out of the County for disposal.

This process itself is costing the Ontario taxpayer $141-million to remove them. But a few weeks ago, I was in Amherst, Nova Scotia. They have wind turbines there and their entire community is proud of them.

There were nine turbines all built and in the final steps of hooking them to the power grid – capable of producing enough electricity for half of the homes in the County. At no cost to us – the taxpayers – as they were funded by private money. Private investors did the math and found that renewables are cheaper than the alternatives.

I look around my community – the County. What do I see? Construction underway and plans for other mega-projects. Expansion of Picton Terminals. A ludicrous proposal for Picton Bay development. Talbot Street impassable because new residences are being built. Additional high-end residential developments for Toronto folks either in the works or getting approved.

What is the environmental impact of these developments? We are told it is good for us. But how are they good for us? Will our property taxes go down as they foot the bills or will they just go up? My bet, is they will go up as usual. Will affordable housing be the result maybe? I am not seeing that either. I picked up the litter of plastic that Toronto folks left at Point Traverse last month – do we really need more of them here? Where is the environmental justice?

Wind turbines do not kill birds. They do not destroy habitats of turtles (that do not live in Milford anyway). They actually take up very little space. They alter the electric grid to be renewable. California has dictated that all new cars must be electric by 2035. Electric cars will only solve our Climate problem if the electricity that powers them comes from renewables.

I am confused. Stunned into complete confusion. This is so completely contradictory to what the scientists are telling us. Who – just who – are our elected officials working for? Who are they representing? It is certainly not me.

Do our local elected officials not do math? What is wrong with us? What am I missing? I am confused. Hope is so far away that I can’t see even see it on the horizon. Not in the County. Luckily, I can always look to Amherst Nova Scotia for it.

Danny Celovsky

Milford