Wolfe Island, transformed by wind power

(12/21/11) Most experts agree we need to move toward renewable energy to save the planet. Giant wind farms are already up and running across America - from the high deserts of California to the North Country's Tug Hill Plateau. And from coast to coast, communities have been divided over wind power development. Supporters around the nation imagine wind providing clean energy--and green jobs--for generations to come. But wind farms have a downside.

In 2009, dozens of wind towers were installed on Wolfe Island on the Canadian side of the border, just where Lake Ontario feeds into the St. Lawrence River. The turbines rise like thirty story buildings, transforming the landscape and sharply dividing a once-sleepy farming community. This audio collage, produced by Chris Trimmer and Aleksandra Bragoszewska of Kingston, Ontario for Front and Center, captures the low roar of the turbines and the dissonance they've spread in the community.