–West Palm Beach By Hans Wilder

There’s a growing debate across the North Country about solar farms, wind projects, and the future of our farmland — and a lot of people are starting to ask the same uncomfortable question:

How “green” are these projects really?

To install industrial solar farms, thousands of acres of farmland and forest are often cleared. Wind turbines require massive concrete foundations, rare earth minerals, and miles of transmission lines cut through rural landscapes.

Then there’s the other side of the story most politicians don’t talk about:

• Many solar panels are manufactured overseas

• Mining for battery and turbine materials has major environmental impacts

• Panels and turbine blades eventually become disposal problems

• Meanwhile farmland — one of the most renewable resources we have — disappears

Supporters argue these projects are necessary for future energy needs.

Critics say turning farmland into industrial energy sites while calling it “green” might be one of the biggest contradictions in modern environmental policy.

With more solar projects and lithium battery facilities being proposed across upstate New York, the question for the North Country is simple:

Are we protecting the environment… or just changing the way we damage it?

Full story at the Watertown Post.