A rhetorical analysis of wind concerns Ontario's use of melodrama to promote online opposition to industrial wind turbine developments

In 2009, the Ontario government implemented the Green Energy Act (GEA). Within this \ninitiative, the GEA heavily subsidized renewable energy developments and instituted procedural \nmechanisms to expedite such developments across the province. In doing so, the GEA altered \nthe landscapes of numerous rural Ontario communities. Since 2009, nearly 2 500 industrial wind \nturbines (IWTs) have been constructed – turbines approximately 80 meters high with blades \nexceeding 40 meters. In response to this alteration, roughly 50 grassroots groups have \ndesignated themselves as “Not A Willing Host” of IWTs. This phenomenon represents a paradoxical “green on green” (Warren et al. 2005) controversy in \nwhich pro-environmental arguments figure centrally (though not exclusively) within grassroots \nopposition to a government-led ‘green’ initiative. \nTo understand the scope and style of these arguments as a form of environmental \ncommunication, my dissertation undertakes a textured rhetorical analysis of Wind Concerns \nOntario’s (WCO) online opposition – the most prominent grassroots IWT opposition group \nwithin the province. Drawing on Schwarze’s (2006) theory of environmental melodrama, my rhetorical analysis \nillustrates that WCO’s use of ‘embedded third-party edited blog posts’ constitutes an \nenvironmental melodrama – a melodrama that is enacted through WCO’s appropriation of \njournalistic conventions. In communicating these posts, WCO often inserts its own headline, \nlead, visual and/or caption to frame the linked item as part of its oppositional discourse. I argue that this complex and contemporary rhetorical strategy functions as a form of participatory \njournalism to promote political homophily and create an echo chamber in which the ideological \nunderpinnings of IWT opposition coalesce and reverberate, while contrary ideologies are \ndismissed. \nThis research contributes to further mapping the parameters of the IWT controversy in Ontario. \nIt also contributes to an understanding of the rhetorical repertoire of environmental melodrama \nby highlighting its discursive complexity and malleability – notably the incorporation of \ntechnocratic discourse conventions and divisive humour – two features not typically associated \nwith this rhetorical form. Furthermore, by exploring the characteristics and implications of \nmelodrama – a rhetorical form common in public disputes – this research will inform citizens \nand stakeholders who find themselves imbricated amidst a social controversy, environmental or \notherwise, and navigating a potential rhetorical response.

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