WIND SURVEY INFORMATION
My name is Darryl Read and I am a fourth year psychology honors student at the University of New
England in Australia. My research project now involves surveying citizens near proposed or
established wind developments, worldwide.
My interest in this area of research began after speaking with rural residents living in Crookwell,
New South Wales (NSW), which has the oldest wind project in Australia. The conversations enabled
me to gain an understanding of the range of issues surrounding wind developments. Following those
talks I began to read wind articles in the media. It became clear that most of these stories failed to
identify the issues and genuine concerns of the residents. After delving deeper (e.g. the
EnergyPresentation.Info), I am now getting a better understanding of the enormity of the issues
facing citizens who are proximate to wind developments.
In the beginning my study was designed to gain an understanding of the structure and strength of
both positive and negative attitudes toward wind energy developments. The initial plan was for the
survey to be distributed throughout the renewable energy precincts in NSW. Following the launch of
the questionnaire earlier this month, the study has caught the attention of various pro-wind
organizations and individuals who have attempted to discredit the study. Supporters of the wind
industry have also been pushing to prevent the study continuing. To make a long story short, when I
presented the questionnaire, the renewable energy coordinators and representatives from the Clean
Energy Council (CEC) informed me that they would not support the project because they felt that the
study was focusing on the negative aspects of wind energy. (This was probably subconsciously due
to my meeting real citizens and listening to their concerns.)
When I began the project I had no idea that the issues were so politically motivated. In my view it
appears that wind proponents (government, business, and academia) are not prepared to accept
any criticism of wind energy. The issues these people had with the questionnaire relate to the
questions regarding the possible impacts of wind developments, like property values, noise,
environmental impacts, psychological impacts, etc. Despite significant resistance I have decided to
continue with the study, and very much appreciate your passing it on to your network of good
people.
Anyway, due to these developments, my research is now a completely independent project, not
funded by the government agencies who support wind energy. This has the advantage that I now
have more freedom, as the research is not restricted to achieve a particular outcome. In brief, the
aim of my study is now to investigate the range of issues surrounding wind developments, and to
provide an unvarnished account of citizens' attitudes toward wind developments. A number of
people I had contacted had expressed their personal stories of how these industrial projects have
negatively impacted their lives. I believe I have a duty to tell the citizen's side of the story and expose
the practices of governments, which appear to be driven by political vs scientific agendas.
The first aim of the current study is to investigate the attitudes, perceived levels of stress and
potential impact on mental health experienced by residents who live in close proximity to wind
developments. As a consequence of the differing stages of wind turbine development, it is
anticipated that mental health outcomes may be more negatively impacted with progressively more
development.
The second aim of the study is to identify the factors which contribute toward oppositional
behaviour. The various negative impacts of wind projects such as perceived influence on property
values, effects on surrounding environment, wildlife, effects of noise etc., will be analyzed. Further
testing of variables such as place attachment, time perspective, environmental concerns will be
conducted to investigate their influence on oppositional behaviour.
In some media there have been suggestions that those who oppose developments are motivated by
factors other than the shortcomings of wind energy. For example, it has been reported that those
who oppose wind energy are not concerned by environmental problems, the lifestyles of future
generations, or so-called global warming. I believe that such findings are used to discredit the
genuine concerns residents have toward developments. It is anticipated that the mediation analyses
(see below) will dismiss the myths, and put the focus back on the some of the legitimate reasons
residents oppose developments, like noise, psychological impacts, etc. Above all, I want to highlight
the fact that those who oppose developments are not psychologically unstable or driven by political
interests. Their concerns are real and hopefully my study will highlight this.
To enable the findings of my research to be taken seriously the study will require at least 300
participants, but the more the better. Residents who live near existing or proposed wind projects
across the world are invited to participate in the study. When completing the survey please click the
arrow at the bottom of each page to move to the next. If you have any questions in relation to the
questionnaire or if you have any comments you believe may assist the research, please email me at
[email protected]. Please feel pass on the survey link to other residents who are near to
wind developments.
Thank you VERY MUCH for your time and interest.
Darryl Read
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For those who would like some additional technical explanation of my plans:
When I initially began research in this area, like most people I was unaware of the limited capacity of
the turbines to produce electricity. It appears that they have become symbols of governments which
will do anything to be seen as combating "climate change." My research in this area will continue
over the coming years at PhD level. My PhD will be a comprehensive analysis which will investigate
factors such as the inefficiency of the turbines. Unfortunately the current questionnaire does not
fully address the scientific deficiency of wind energy.
However, I have received multiple emails from residents (an others are welcome to send me their
experiences). I will incorporate their views into the discussions section of the current study.
Although somewhat limited, the variables I have decided to use will still provide very interesting
outcomes. Above all it will shine a spotlight on the multiple concerns residents have and the barriers
which they face. My research in this area has only just begun and I am learning every day.
After I get a sufficient number of responses, a number of mediation analyses will be performed to
identify the various factors which determine oppositional behaviour. For example, place attachment,
time perspective, and environmental concerns will be used to test the relationships between
attitudes and oppositional behaviour. Within the literature there have been suggestions that an
underlying factor motivating oppositional behaviour are their attitudes toward climate change, that
is, lack of belief is contributing to the opposition. If the survey evidence warrants it, I will dismiss this
myth and provide evidence that those who oppose developments have been psychologically
affected by the presence of the turbines and that their concerns are real and need to be investigated
further.
To assess the perceived levels of stress and potential impact on mental health experienced by
residents who live in close proximity to wind projects, a multiple regression analysis will be
conducted. The Dependent Variable (DV) will be the data collected from the Depression and Stress
Scales (DASS 21), and the Independent Variables (IVs) will be the proximity to developments. As
mentioned before, the main analyses will involve the testing of mediators such as place attachment,
time perspective, environmental concerns, belief in climate change, and their relationship between
attitudes toward wind developments and oppositional behaviour. If I am able to recruit over 300
participants I will perform a statistical technique known as Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The
benefits of using this technique as opposed to a simple mediation analysis is that it can analyze the
causal processes which can be modelled pictorially to enable a clearer conceptualization of the
various relationships.