Windfarms and Turbulent Communities III: How not to do it
To recap, there has been considerable grassroots resistance to the setting up of an off-shore wind measuring device as the first step to an wind-farm.
I received this through an email yesterday from the Toronto Environmental Alliance, as a call to arms for environmentalists to support the development and push the issue through. The message itself is the perfect example of how not to do it.
Instead of winning affected communities over, the TEA has threatened an even deeper divide by polarizing the issue. The language used, ludicrously terms this highly localized issue as a global one and suggests that failure here would bring everything to a “screeching halt”.
What’s missing here is any meaningful outreach strategy that would be used communicate with disaffected communities. Instead of winding down a conflict and looking for compromises, TEA’s approach could potentially set off a grass-roots level arms race that would see organizers increasingly get in each others faces and network outwards to other disaffected communities. Unless the Ontario government is dedicated to the green revolution (which it is not), this will turn into an ugly political battle with a very messy outcome and no clear winners.
The November 24th meeting will interesting indeed.