DIRTY BUSINESS edited by Jane Wilson with Contributing editor Parker Gallant. A collection of essays, articles, letters and presentations that offer an alternative view of wind-power generation to that being presented by the Ontario government and the huge, multi-billion-dollar corporate wind-power generation industry ~ even the so-called "environmental" groups.

"When you look at how our legislators created an act that removed the democratic process from Ontario's rural municipalities and at the same time, used taxpayer and electricity ratepayer dollars to open the door to huge, largely foreign corporations to exploit Ontario, it is simply astonishing.
"The government actually took a calculated risk that the rural communities of Ontario (the base for the opposition party) were too small to launch any opposition to its initiatives in the renewable energy business, and proceeded to treat rural Ontario as a 'resource plantation', as War in the Country author Thomas Pawlick tells it."

The Reality of Ontario's Rush to Wind Power

"Add to that the aggressive business practices of the corporate wind developers, the misuse of statistics on health effects from coal-fired power generation, the casual dismissal of people losing their health due to the noise produced by industrial wind turbines and the lost value of citizens' single largest investment, their homes, you can come to only one conclusion:  this is a very dirty business."

~ Introduction to DIRTY BUSINESS, published by Wind Concerns Ontario Inc., edited by Jane Wilson, contributing editor, Parker Gallant.  Available,The Neat Little Bookshop. $12.99 tax incl.www.windconcernsontario.org

Lake Erie Coast ~ Stewardship of Our Natural Heritage

Today, by chance, we met the most wonderful group of naturalists.  Albert Garafalo, Lake Erie Coast Project Coordinator, and a handful of resourceful individuals showed up without fanfare on a shoreline near us ~ dressed as one would expect, in gear that would allow exploration of the roughest terrain.  In the few minutes spent with this knowledgeable, dedicated group, we learned more than we have in formal meetings over the years with Toronto consultants contracted to come up with great beautification schemes on how to improve the lake shore.

"The Great Lakes coast supports some of the rarest and most threatened ecosystems in Canada.  Lake Erie, the Southern most Great Lake, is a hot spot for species diversity and supports a number of species at risk including:  Hoptree, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Fowler's Toad." * Just to mention a few.

We came away with a list of preferable "native wild plants" and the names of undesirable non-native plants.   We have a better understanding of the importance of encouraging native trees and plants rather than expropriating lake-shore owners in order to build terraces and pavilions with boulevard trees and planters.  (All recommendations that have been presented to Haldimand County Council and local residents.)

*Contacts: Albert Garofal 905.732.5084  or albert.garofalo@gmail.com

We ask our municipality to consult with naturalists like the Bert Miller Nature Club, P.O. Box 1088, Ridgeway, ON.  L0S 1N0.  Meanwhile, encouraging information can be found at www.bertmillernatureclub.org  *

/Lake Erie Coast Project/Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The Human Seasons ~

"...when fancy clear takes in all beauty with an easy span"

\
by John Keats

Four seasons fill the measure of the year;

There are four seasons in the mind of man:

He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear

Takes in all beauty with an easy span:

He has his Summer, when luxuriously

Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves

To ruminate, and by such dreaming nigh

His nearest unto heaven:  quiet coves

His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings

He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness ~ to let fair things

Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook:

He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,

Or else he would forgo his mortal nature.

~ John Keats (1795 - 1821)  English poet.

Keats lived to be only 25 years old. 
 www.poetryfoundation.org