Trump claimed wind turbines cause cancer
President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched his latest wild attack on wind turbines, an energy source that has long attracted his ire.
“They say the noise causes cancer,” the president said of the turbines at the National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser in Washington, DC.
Trump linked the technology to his former presidential rival Hillary Clinton, saying she “wanted to put up wind.”
“If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations your house just went down 75% in value. And they say the noise causes cancer, you tell me that one, OK?” Trump said, imitating the whirring noise made by the turbines.
He went on to express concern for the effect of turbines on wild-bird populations.
“The thing makes so much noise, and, of course, it’s like a graveyard for birds. If you loved birds, you’d never want to walk under a windmill again,” Trump said.
Scientists have long rejected the decades-old claims of those who say that wind turbines cause a variety of illnesses, including cancer.
Simon Chapman, a professor in public health at the University of Sydney in Australia, in a 2012 article reviewed stories of people who had illnesses they blamed on turbines.
He suggested that the illnesses — which were real — were not attributable to the turbines but instead were “psychogenic,” which means they were caused by anxiety and unrest.
It is true that many birds are killed by flying into wind turbines. However, far more are killed by flying into cellphone and radio towers, or by being mauled to death by cats.
In February, Trump lost a long-running legal battle with the Scottish government over a wind farm near one of his golf courses.
Before the 2016 US presidential election, he launched the battle over an offshore farm near his golf course in Aberdeenshire in northwest Scotland. He lost and had to pay legal bills for himself and the Scottish government.
Last week, Trump attacked wind power at a rally in Michigan, saying that if the wind doesn’t blow, televisions and other electronic devices will lose power.
In fact, turbines can store the energy to be used in times of calm.
