Is President Trump Right That Windmills Cause Cancer?

“I am unaware of any studies showing a causal link between windmills and cancer risk,” says Dr. Heather Yeo, Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. “Wind power is one of the cleanest forms of power.  Many people support the use of wind power, as it is less likely than traditional energy sources (coal, oil, etc) to give of well known carcinogens.”

The president may have been attempting to reference accusations by anti-windmill groups that wind turbines emit low frequency noises called “infrasound”. Some researchers have claimed that infrasound can cause health problems like nausea, sleep loss, and anxiety.

According to a 2013 study, these are some adverse effects associated with wind turbines: “People who live or work in close proximity to IWTs have experienced symptoms that include decreased quality of life, annoyance, stress, sleep disturbance, headache, anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. Some have also felt anger, grief, or a sense of injustice,” says the study. It says also that these effects may be caused by “turbine noise, infrasound, dirty electricity, ground current, and shadow flicker.” But there is no evidence to support cancer risk coming from wind turbines.

There is, on the other hand, a lot of evidence that the effects of burning coal and other fossil fuels does increase cancer risk. “Based on the model, we estimate a total of 1.37 million standardized incident cases from lung cancer will be associated with coal-fired power plants in 2025,” says a 2019 environmental health study from researchers at Harvard University.

Much of the debate over windmills’ health effects actually spring from opposition to windmills for other reasons, when communities have rallied against efforts the place the unsightly turbines near their homes or off the coasts of wealthy beachside enclaves, ruining views. The debates have sometimes shifted from arguments over aesthetics and noise to more potent arguments about health dangers.

Trump himself waged an unsuccessful campaign a few years ago to block the construction of aquatic wind farm off the coast of Scotland, in view of his upscale Turnberry Golf course. During that time, he denounced the wind farm as ruining pleasant views of the ocean.

“You know, Hillary wanted to put windmills all over the place. Let’s put up some windmills. When the wind doesn’t blow, just turn off the television darling, please. There’s no wind, please turn off the television quickly," President Trump said in a separate speech. "I know a lot about wind," he added.

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