ABC Helps Fox Promote Wind Power Hypochondria

Fox Nation is claiming that “Wind Turbines [are] Making Cape Codders Sick” based on an ABCNews.com article. But the story of a resident in that article illustrates that there is no demonstrated impact of wind turbines on health, while substantial evidence suggests that reported health effects are psychological rather than physical in origin.

ABC News’ article began with the story of a resident of Falmouth, Massachusetts, who lived near a wind turbine: “Sue Hobart, a bridal florist from Massachusetts, couldn’t understand why she suddenly developed headaches, ringing in her ears, insomnia and dizziness to the point of falling ‘flat on my face’ in the driveway.” However, in an online interview with an anti-wind activist, Hobart admitted that she had suffered from ringing in her ears for “quite a while,” but claimed it had gotten worse “since the turbines.” Hobart, who has compared living near a wind turbine to being in the “line of fire” in a “war zone,” attributed various other symptoms to “wind turbine syndrome” in that interview, saying she had “no appetite” in her home and was experiencing “just unrest — just not being able to settle down — not really feeling relaxed.”

ABC News claimed that based on these self-reported symptoms, “a doctor at Harvard Medical School diagnosed Hobart with wind turbine syndrome, which is not recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” However, in an email to Media Matters, the doctor in question, Dr. Steven Rauch, clarified that there is “no way I can make a definite diagnosis of WTS [Wind Turbine Syndrome]”:

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