Editor’s note: This op-ed is by John Anderson, director of siting policy for the American Wind Energy Association.
As a clean energy source, the wind industry takes health-related concerns very seriously. However, the recent editorial by Annette Smith (“Wind turbine noise cause real health problems,” Nov. 9), falsely states that wind turbines cause health effects. In fact, numerous government and peer-reviewed studies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. have found no evidence of health effects from wind turbines.Thousands of people around the world live in close proximity to wind turbines without incident.
Moreover, in a local study completed earlier this year, the Massachusetts Departments of Public Health and Environmental Protection commissioned a panel of experts to analyze “the biological plausibility or basis for health effects of turbines (noise, vibration, and flicker).” The experts — who had backgrounds in public health, epidemiology, toxicology, neurology and sleep medicine, neuroscience, and mechanical engineering — found no evidence of health effects from wind turbines.
All electricity generation sources have some effect, either visual, environmental, or health related – wind is no exception. However, as wind turbines are able to generate electricity without emitting hazardous pollutants into our air and water, or generating toxic by-products which require long-term, secure storage, wind remains the most benign form of energy production available.
