Open Letter: Wind Energy Fears and Waubra Foundation

Ms Laurie:

For several years, you and the foundation you lead have been promoting health concernsaround wind energy. The Waubra Foundation promotes the concept of the "precautionaryapproach" to wind power and health until health research shows what is causing thecomplaints. [1]

You are aware of the recently published studies by Professor Chapman and team of theUniversity of Sydney Public Health Faculty and Fiona Chricton and team of the University ofAuckland. [2-3]

To summarize, Professor Chapman's study found that health complaints followed anti-windcampaigning very closely, just as the psychogenic hypothesis for wind power healthcomplaints predicted. His work gathering, validating and assessing all complaints at all windfarms in all of Australia for 20 years strongly supports the hypothesis that anti-wind lobbyingis causing people to become ill directly and to mis-ascribe existing conditions to wind farms.

Ms. Crichton's study found that a mere ten minutes of exposure to anti-wind power healthfears in the form of videos distributed by anti-wind campaigners could cause the symptomsascribed to infrasound, low frequency sound and wind turbines in general regardless ofwhether infrasound was present or not.

Creation of illness and prevention of effective treatment through mis-diagnosis are bothserious failures of medical ethics and professionalism.

As you and the Waubra Foundation assert that you are acting in the best interests of thehealth of people near existing and proposed wind turbines, and as the evidence stronglysupports the likelihood that the Waubra Foundation's activities are greatly increasing illnessand mis-diagnosis of pre-existing conditions, the precautionary principle would clearlysuggest that the Waubra Foundation should not be promoting health fears related to windfarms.

While in the past you could claim to be basing your actions on mixed evidence, this is nolonger the case. Continued promotion of health fears in light of the evidence will be willfuland intentional creation of negative health impacts on those near wind farms.

I'm sure you'll agree that your intent was not to make people sick, and will cease your activepromotion of health fears related to wind power immediately.

Yours,

Mike Barnard,Singapore

1. Waubra Foundation statement on precautionary approach:(http://waubrafoundation.com.au/Y2NpZD0xJmNhaWQ9MTMmYWlkPSZjcmM9MTQ0OTg1MjMy

OA%3D%3D )2. Chapman et al study: Spatio-temporal differences in the history of health and noisecomplaints about Australian wind farms: evidence for the psychogenic, “communicateddisease” hypothesis. , Simon Chapman, Alexis St. George, Karen Waller, Vince Cakic, SydneyeScholarship Repository,http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8977?mode=full&submit_simple=Show+full+item+record3. Chricton et al study: Can expectations produce symptoms from infrasound associated withwind turbines?, Crichton, F., Dodd, G., Schmid, G., Gamble, G., & Petrie, K. J. (2013), HealthPsychology,http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477573