Editorial

October 2 2024

Public engagement in wind energy healthy sign

With multiple opportunities on the horizon for both onshore and offshore wind developments, residents of Guysborough County are asking questions about what all of this means to the future of their homes and communities.

While almost everyone this newspaper has spoken to over the past year on this topic is not opposed to wind energy, per se, many residents do want to know more about the size and location of the projects, the impact on key industries, like the fishery; and the consequences to property values, tourism and the environment.

Increasingly, we see people getting more engaged, showing up to information sessions put on by the wind developers, like EverWind Fuels, and research firms, like Net Zero – whose open houses in Guysborough and Canso last week sparked thoughtful and probing questions from attendees.

Earlier this month, a public meeting hosted by the citizens groups Green Nova Scotia and Protect Guysborough drew more than 40 residents to St. Francis Harbour Community Hall. Those same groups are scheduled to publicly address the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) committee of the whole Wednesday, Oct. 2, to continue the conversation.

These are all good signs – not only for the future of wind energy in the area, but for the health of participatory democracy in Guysborough County.

There is a lot at stake for this corner of Nova Scotia, now referred to by several of its local politicians as the centre of Canada’s emerging wind universe.

On the one hand, onshore and offshore wind development projects have the potential to increase incomes by providing new jobs, boost tax revenues for investment in public infrastructure and amenities, and draw new people and businesses that will broaden and strengthen our communities.

On the other hand, many residents want to know what’s to prevent the proposed hundreds of massive wind turbines in and around their communities from eventually turning the area into an industrial wasteland – among other questions. Offshore, what’s the impact on lobster and crab harvesting, on shipping and navigation?

There’s also the whole issue of the need to “green” Nova Scotia’s electrical grid and not only use new wind energy to fuel hydrogen and ammonia production for export overseas.

Raising questions like these in a public forum not only puts the issues on one table for everyone to see, it ensures that answers become an up-to-date community knowledge bank that supports local interests as part of – not apart from – the developing projects. It encourages the give and take of discussion, debate, engagement.

Best of all, perhaps, this public engagement shows that at a crucial inflection point in the history of Guysborough County, people here are fundamentally determined to help shape the future of their communities.