Western University Scholarship@Western Digitized Theses Digitized Special Collections 2011 COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN ONTARIO Emmanuel Songsore Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses Recommended Citation Songsore, Emmanuel, "COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN ONTARIO" (2011). Digitized Theses. 3293. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3293 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Digitized Special Collections at Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digitized Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN ONTARIO j. (Spine Title: Wind Energy Development in Ontario) (Thesis Format: Monograph) by Emmanuel Songsore Graduate Program in Geography J A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Emmanuel Songsore 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Supervisor Examiners Dr. Michael Buzzelli Dr. Jamie Baxter Dr. Isaac Luginaah Dr. William Türkei The thesis by Emmanuel Songsore entitled: Community Responses to Wind Energy Development in Ontario is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Date___________ ' __________ __________________________ Dr. James Voogt Chair, Thesis Examination Board h ABSTRACT The Province of Ontario has one of the most radical jurisdictions in the developed world for supporting and promoting renewable energy development. Legislatively, the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 is aimed at making Ontario a global leader in renewable energy development. Wind energy in particular represents one of the integral and controversial parts of these commitments. Several new installations have been built or announced and yet community opposition grows. Utilizing a media content analysis of national, regional and local newspapers circulated within the province of Ontario, this study documents and analyzes issues motivating community resistance to and/or support for wind energy development in Ontario. While most literature on public responses to wind energy development has blamed resistant attitudes on responses to wind turbines, this study argues that major roadblocks to wind energy development in Ontario are more related to the wind energy development process. Overall, the study also highlights the importance of employing broad conceptualizations for understand public responses to wind energy development. Keywords: wind energy, Ontario, Green Energy and Green Economy Act, content analysis, newspapers, health in ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I will like to thank the almighty God for the gift of life and His guidance and protection throughout my Masters program. There is absolutely nothing I could have done without Him. Secondly, I will like to thank my supervisor Dr. Michael Buzzelli for all his advice, guidance, encouragement and concern for not only my academic wellbeing, but my entire experience in Canada. I really appreciate all your time, resources and efforts. .................. A big thank you goes to my great friends and office colleagues John Osborne and Kyle Clemens who took time off their busy schedules to participate in my 'boring and time consuming' intercoder reliability test. Your detailed feedback is greatly appreciated. My thanks also go to all my committee members for taking time off their busy schedules to examine this thesis. Additionally, I will also like to thank the office staff at the geography department for all their help and support. This would not have been possible without you. Last but not least, I will like to appreciate all my family members for forcefully kicking me out of my music studio and getting me back to school. I specially thank my parents for their investments in my education from my childhood even to date. To my two elder sisters who have also supported me in diverse ways, I say thank you for setting the bar high for your junior brother. Your achievements in life continue to challenge me to settle for the best. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION.......... .......................................................... ii ABSTRACT............... ..iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................ ............ LIST OF TABLES...................... ....... ............... ..... .......... ..................... viii LIST OF FIGURES..................................... ...................... ...... ix LIST OF APPENDICES........ .......... ............. .......... ................. ...................................x GLOSSARY....... ..... ........ .......................... ............. ........................ xi CHAPTER 1.......... T 1.1. Study Context........................... .............. ............. ..... 1 1.2 Research Problem.................................................. 6 1.3 Research Objectives.:................................................ ...............33....;..:............... 7 1.4 Wind Energy Development- Ontario in Context............................ 7 1.4.1 Wind Energy Development in Ontario, Canada.................................... 7 1.4.2 Policy documentation of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act of Ontario, 2009 ........................................................................................................ 11 1.5 Chapter summaries ............ 13 CHAPTER 2 ............. ........... ............... .......... ............................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction........ ..... ..... ....... ............. ....... ........................ ............ ............. 14 2.2. Public attitudes towards wind energy development......................................... 15 2.2.1. NIMBY and Proximity guided studies.............................................. 15 2.2.1.1. Transcending the NIMBY and Proximity frameworks..................... 19 2.2.2. Social issues research.................................... .................. ................. 20 2.3. Luhmann's theory of ecological communication................................. ............ 22 2.3.1. Major codebook development.......................................... ........................ 24 2.3.2. A review of empirical research under the seven frames.................. ......... 26 2.3.2.1. Economic..................................................... 26 23.2.2. Environment.......................................... 28 2.3.2.3. Health & Safety.................... 30 2.3.2.4. Law & Political....... 32 2.3.2.5. Aesthetic & Cultural....;....................................................... 33 2.3.2. Ö. Technical......... 35 23.2.7. Wildlife.................. 36 2.4. Media ............... ............................................................................. 38 2.4.1. Media roles and effects................................... .......................................38 2.4.1.1. The media as informers........................................................... .......... 40 v 2.4.1.2. The media as agenda setters ...............41 2.4.1.3. The media as framers....................................................................... 43 2.4.1.4. The media as persuaders................................................... ................ 44 2.5. Risk perception........................ ....... ................................................................45 2.6. Chapter Summary........................ ......... ...................... u.;........:..................;....-53 CHAPTER 3 .................. ................................... ...... .....................................................54 3.1. Introduction............ .............. .......................... .......... ............................ ....... 54 3.2. Newspaper selection, sampling and study period selection ....54 3.3. Methodology................................................ ..... .................... ............... ........ 61 3.3.1. Content analysis methodology............................... ................. 61 3.3.2. Core requirements of content analysis ............................... .......................62 3.3.2.1 Objectivity....................... ............ ................. ....... 63 3.3.2.2. Systematization.................. ..................... .............. ..... 63 3.3.2.3; Replicability.................................. ........... .................... 64 3.3.2.4. Reliability.................... ........... ...................................... 64 3.3.3. Study specific content analytic approach................................. ................ 65 3.3.3.1. Quantitative CA......................................... ...................... 65 3.3.3.2. Qualitative CA..................................................................... ............. 66 3.3.3.3. Unit of analysis..................]..................... 68 3.3.3.4 Computer aided'content analysis..................68 3.4 Content analysis coding protocol......................................................... 69 3.4.1. Quantitative content analysis protocol for seven frames 70 3.4.1.1. Key Word in context searches ( K W I C s ) . ....... 73 3.4.2. Policy oriented qualitative content analysis p r o t o c o l 74 3.4.3. Qualitative content analysis protocol- Health risk concerns.......;......;.;...... 76 3 4.3.1.