As President, Trump Claimed Wind Turbines Cause Cancer

Mother Jones ^ | Oct 17, 2024 | Jackie Flynn Mogensen

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Donald Trump has all sorts of odd grievances. He’s complained about low water pressure and toilets, magnetic elevators, a lack of Christmas cheer in advertisements, tiny windows, tiny fish, Abraham Lincoln’s negotiation skills, “the world” generally, and more. But perhaps his favorite thing to hate? Wind turbines.

In more than 100 social media posts over the last 12 years, he’s claimed that wind turbines are “ugly” and “disgusting looking,” “inefficient,” “unreliable,” “noisy,” “neighborhood-destroying,” “bird-killing” “monstrosities” that “cause tremendous damage to their local ecosystems.” (It’s true wind turbines kill birds—but not nearly as many as cars, buildings, and cats.) It’s a weirdly specific vendetta: It’s not as if Trump has some sort of personal, financial stake in blocking this one form of renewable energy. (Oh wait, he does.)

But as president, Trump went full wind-spiracy. At a Republican fundraiser in 2019, Trump claimed that wind turbines cause cancer. “If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value,” he said. “And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, okay?”

Following the event, several outlets fact-checked the president. For one, there’s no reason to think wind turbines would cause a decrease in property value anywhere near 75 percent. As FactCheck.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan fact-checking organization, reported at the time, most studies on the issue “indicate small or no changes to property values.”

And, critically, there is no known link between wind turbines and cancer. The American Cancer Society said at the time it was “unaware of any credible evidence linking the noise from windmills to cancer.” Nor is there any reason to think so, according to FactCheck.org

[jeffc]

Hey, Mother Jones, Ted Kennedy prevented wind turbines from being installed near him. Why was he so special, or did he know something?

[gundog]

That’s nothing. I find these on most of the fishing lures I buy.

[GingisK]

Everything has cancer warning labels, so why wouldn’t wind turbines? The real trick would be to get Californians to quit eating hammers and other hardware.

[Paal Gulli]

It’s okay, the president is allowed to lie.

At least that’s what OBiden said. “It’s in the Constitution,” he said. “The President gets to lie when he wants.”

I heard him say it.