Green Energy

Who benefits most from government ‘green’ policies? Usually it is the companies that produce renewable energy, not citizens or the environment. For example, 602 birds and 1,270 bats were killed by wind turbines at a single Ontario wind farm between July and December of 2009.

Aggressive carbon pricing schemes that depend upon routing taxpayer dollars to ‘green’ projects are making energy and other goods more expensive for Canada’s poorest. Canadians in provinces where these policies have been implemented are having to choose between heating their homes and buying groceries to feed their families. Some are walking away from their homes because they can no longer afford to power and heat them. This is the ‘heat or eat’ conundrum.

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Counter-Points

Counter-Point  For a generation, we have been beaten over the head with the notion that ‘greener is better’. While innovations in renewable energy have certainly been made, many of these technologies also depend, at their core, on fossil fuels – in manufacturing wind turbines, for example. Governments (provincial and federal) provide lavish subsidies for ‘green energy’ projects, many of which fail to live up to the hype. The electricity required to charge an electric car is, for example, overwhelmingly produced with fossil fuels – usually coal. Again, our governments should be looking at the facts, not kowtowing to every ‘green’ trend that comes along.
Counter-Point Counter-Point For too long the detriments of hydrocarbons have been measured against the so-called benefits of green energy. It is time for an honest discussion on Canada’s energy balance. When used responsibly, hydrocarbons have the potential to eliminate more pollution-intensive forms of energy, such as the burning of dung or wood in developing areas of the globe. Without hydrocarbons, life would be nasty, brutish and short.
Counter-point Who benefits most from government ‘green’ policies? Usually it is the companies that produce renewable energy, not citizens or the environment. For example, 602 birds and 1,270 bats were killed by wind turbines at a single Ontario wind farm between July and December of 2009. Aggressive carbon pricing schemes that depend upon routing taxpayer dollars to ‘green’ projects are making energy and other goods more expensive for Canada’s poorest. Canadians in provinces where these policies have been implemented are having to choose between heating their homes and buying groceries to feed their families. Some are walking away from their homes because they can no longer afford to power and heat them. This is the ‘heat or eat’ conundrum.  
Counterpoint Governments in Canada already overwhelmingly subsidize so-called “green energy” projects. A 2017 study by Dr. Mark Milke of the Canadian Taxpayers Association found that from 2000 to 2016, 80% of business subsidies from Natural Resources Canada went to “green energy” projects. Out of $3.29 billion in subsidies, $2.61 billion of that went to renewable/green energy projects. Of course, this corporate welfare to green companies doesn’t necessarily benefit the environment or ensure the success of green technologies. As Milke writes, “No politician or civil servant has the wisdom and foreknowledge to know which green technology or invention will thrive in the years and decades ahead. In addition, and perhaps worse, useful green innovations at one company may be hampered by taxpayer-financed competition.”

Studies

Adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines

Title: Adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines Author: Roy D. Jeffery MD FCFP Carmen Krogh Brett Horner CMA Publisher: Canadian Family Physician Date: May 2013 Full Article Here Summary:Canadian family physiciann can expect to see increasing numbers of rural patients reportingadverse effects from exposure to industrial wind turbines (IWTs).

Canada’s Carbon Leak Problem

Title: Canada’s Carbon Leak Problem Author: Michael Binnion Publisher: Options Politiques Date: February 1, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: Agriculture, chemicals, refined products, oil and gas, and base metals are most likely to lose large international market share, which implies high rates of carbon leaks.  His study estimates an annual loss of 2.81% of

Making Technological Miracles

Title: Making Technological Miracles Author: Mark P. Mills Publication: The New Atlantis Date: Spring 2017 . Full Text Article Summary: Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow and physicist Mark P. Mills addresses calls for a technological “miracle” in energy production. Mills argues that innovations in energy production are fundamentally constrained by the laws of physics. While the

Green Corporate welfare cash: 21st century justifications and billion-dollar bills to come

Title: Corporate welfare cash: 21st century justifications and billion-dollar bills to come Author: Dr. Mark Milke Publisher: Canadian Taxpayers Federation Date: April 2017 Full Text Article Summary: This study looked at corporate welfare to energy companies and found that governments are racking up huge bills as traditional corporate welfare is shifting towards an increasing number of

Strategic Energy Management for Businesses in Quebec

Title: Strategic Energy Management for Businesses in Quebec Author: Johanne Whitmore and Pierre-Olivier Pineau (Executive Summary) Publisher: Conference Board of Canada Date: October 2015 Full Text Article Summary: In 2012, 67 per cent of the energy consumed in Quebec was consumed by industrial, commercial, and institutional users. How businesses and organization managed their energy consumption,

THE “NEW ENERGY ECONOMY”: AN EXERCISE IN MAGICAL THINKING

Title: THE “NEW ENERGY ECONOMY”: AN EXERCISE IN MAGICAL THINKING Author: Mark P. Mills Publication: Manhattan Institute Date: March 2019 Full Text Article Summary: This paper highlights the physics of energy to illustrate why there is no possibility that the world is undergoing—or can undergo—a near-term transition to a “new energy economy.

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