THESE DAYS, it seems just about every imaginable large-scale project is in trouble with its potential neighbours, even when the projects are at least relatively ‘green.”

One current example is the proposal of Chicago-based Invenergy LLC to erect 25 to 35 wind turbines on farms in East and West Garafraxa. Although the project would be small by comparison with the Melancthon Wind Farm, and wind energy is promoted as one of the “greenest” forms of power production, critics see such projects as a lot more than just a nuisance, fearing health problems as well as property devaluation.

A second example is in Oakville, where a plan by Ontario Power Development (OPG) to erect a natural gas-fired power plant is getting opposition from local residents who see it as a significant source of air pollution.

In both cases, the projects would clearly be far less harmful to the environment than the province’s remaining Nanticoke and Lambton coal-fired plants.

However, one wonders why OPG didn’t opt to build the natural gas plant at the site of the old coal-fired Lakeview Generating Station in Mississauga, and why the government hasn’t allowed host municipalities to tax wind turbines at their commercial value.