Trees store carbon, but a wind farm produces power. Which is greener?

In a pair of small towns outside Binghamton, New York, a battle is raging over competing priorities in the state’s efforts to mitigate climate change and protect its environment.

A new 27-tower wind farm promises to significantly boost clean energy production in New York, which imports most of its energy from other states. But the project comes at the cost of some 313 acres of local forest that currently act as a “carbon sink” for emissions. And preserving such forests is also an important piece of the state’s climate strategy.

Tony Wagner, who owns forest land near the wind farm site, fears the project, known as Bluestone Wind, will degrade the habitats and ecosystems of thousands of acres of contiguous forest. He’s part of a

Small towns, big controversyThorny trade-offsA complex puzzle