I usually enjoy the articles by Gord Follett, but I was not amused by his angry outburst in the February issue titled “Save our Water”.  His article was mostly a political rant about the present Liberal Newfoundland government.  I can sympathize with him to a point, because growing up in St. John’s and Corner Brook in the 1950s, I recall many ill-advised attempts by Joey Smallwood starting up ridiculous ‘industries’ in the province, complements of his contacts in Boston and New York. Industries like a grapefruit canning factory in Stephenville, or a rubber industry in Holyrood were doomed from the start.

However, Mr. Follett is complaining about losses of Newfoundland water from the construction of wind power, except his information is quite misguided, and may actually do more damage through your readers who may believe him.  For example, he stated: “there’s virtually nothing positive for us in this wind energy.” And nothing could be further from the truth. As a climate scientist of 60+ years now, I can assure everyone, including Gord Follett, that developments of wind power in Newfoundland will not in any way endanger water sources, and his viewpoint needs correction. On the plus side, he recognizes the importance of water, our most valuable resource, but does not seem to realize that wind and solar energy can replace virtually all uses of fossil fuels (oil, liquid gas, and coal) that are destroying our climate and environment all over the globe.

In fact, we really should be developing solar, wind, and hydro power and other renewable energy sources on massive scales throughout Canada, to produce electric energy to replace energy from fossil fuels. In burning fossil fuels by vehicles and industry, we release greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are not just warming our climate, but we also have irrefutable evidence that the warming climate is responsible for more frequent droughts across Canada that DO result in water losses, as well as more severe and more frequent storms that destroy infrastructures and lives, killer heat waves, and yes, the wildfires that we continue to experience throughout Canada’s forests. But there are other negatives to fossil fuels that many do not realize. While burning fossil fuels produce the GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) that warm our climate, at the same time they also release poisonous gases including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and various oxides of nitrogen, which the World Health Organization now says kill more than 8 million people per year globally.

I have spent much of my career writing and speaking to the public and government on the need to switch to renewable energy ASAP, while building a trans-national electric grid across Canada. (And BTW, I don’t receive a penny for my efforts on this.) Renewables like solar, wind, and hydro power can provide electric energy to every community in Canada, instead of monopolies on energy such as Alberta holds with the oil sands. Moreover, every community in Canada can build their own solar or wind system connected to that national electric grid for energy security. Fossil fuels have indeed helped build our country over the past century, but it is past time to change because of the climate catastrophes and hidden deaths that they cause. Newfoundland is already a leader in renewable energy through hydroelectric power. Building wind energy systems such as is now happening in Newfoundland shows leadership by Newfoundland government, not the catastrophes that Mr. Follett suggests.

Geoff Strong
Atmospheric/Climate Scientist
Cowichan Bay, BC (but always a proud Newfoundlander)