Ever since Scottish officials tried to build a "really ugly wind farm" by his Aberdeen golf course in 2006, Donald Trump has been an outspoken critic of wind power. He has also been a lifelong climate change denier, despite 97% of climate scientists agreeing that climate change is real and humans are causing it. "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," he tweeted in 2012.
In response to alarming reports about the consequences if we don't take action on climate change, Trump has mocked renewable sources of energy. At a rally in Ohio last month, he predicted power failures if the wind stops blowing, quipping, "When the wind doesn’t blow, just turn off the television darling, please." That's a humorous scenario, but not accurate, as grid operators draw electricity from solar panels, natural gas turbines and hydroelectric dams during gaps of wind.
However, Trump made his most bizarre false claim about wind turbines at the National Republican Congressional Committee's spring dinner on Tuesday. "If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 per cent in value," said the 72-year-old. "And they say the noise causes cancer."
There have been a few small studies suggesting wind farms might negatively affect property values, but larger studies suggest that is unlikely. According to a 2016 study of more than 122,000 home sales by the Journal of Real Estate Research, there was "no unique impact on the rate of home sales near wind turbines." A 2013 analysis of more than 50,000 home sales across nine states also found no evidence of such impact.
As for Trump's dubious claim that windmill noise causes cancer, that is totally baseless. "The American Cancer Society is unaware of any credible evidence linking the noise from windmills to cancer," said a company spokesman in a statement to the New York Times.
While it's disappointing to have a president who repeatedly makes false statements to the public, people had a lot of fun mocking Trump on social media. Here are some highlights!
I DECLARE EMERGENCYYYYY![[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/MarkDStrauss/status/1113804839631323142]]
Mini-golf just got mini-deadly[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/BennyEastSide/status/1113805533193166853]]
They've had eight years to come up with something...but I'm guessing no[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Infantry0300/status/1113823285102428160]]
There have been less one victims and the number is staying the same every day[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/murrayv/status/1113828828080529408]]
NO!!! PULL YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS, PEASANT[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1113777002799075331]]
Hurts even worse then stepping on them[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Ellelayye/status/1113846382014676998]]
Facts[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/bretterlich/status/1113820101340307456]]
In the classic 1605 novel by Miguel de Cervantes, a nobleman loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant under the name Don Quixote. His comical quest to revive chivalry begins with an iconic scene where Quixote attacks windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants. After publication, "tilting at windmills" became a phrase meaning to attack imaginary enemies.[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/John_R_Maun/status/1113776772770873345]]
"Of course windmills cause cancer," said Stephen Colbert sarcastically. "That's why everyone in Holland is dead. Also, noise does not cause cancer. Although I believe listening to Donald Trump does cause brain damage."[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/colbertlateshow/status/1113602080160268288]]
On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah revealed that Donald Trump's beef with windmills originates from a petty dispute at his golf course in Scotland in 2006. It all makes sense now![[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1113624994733547525]]
