To the editor,

The wind turbine project proposed for the Bethlehem Authority watershed is not a "crisis" and will not "have a dramatic impact upon (the) lives" of area residents. The turbines, located more than a half-mile from homes, will not "shadow" any homes, and their sound is required to be less than 45 decibels at any home (falling rain is 50 decibels). It will use 150 acres of Bethlehem's forest (not 300) and will endanger fewer birds than do domestic cats or glass windows.The developer - which has developed over 50 environmentally sensitive wind turbine projects in 18 states - will comply with the regulations protecting the streams, lakes, wetlands and habitats of plants, amphibians, reptiles and other animals imposed by seven state and federal environmental agencies. A comprehensive 2013 national study by the Berkeley National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy found that proximity to wind turbines has no measurable impact on home values.Pennsylvania's coal and natural gas electric power plants emit enough carbon dioxide and methane to make our state the 20th largest contributor in the world of the greenhouse-gases that cause climate disruption. This watershed is not a national or state park, wilderness area or old growth forest - it has been clear-cut logged multiple times over 250 years and its forest was substantially destroyed by fire in the 1940s.The Bethlehem Authority land is a prime location for the renewable wind power that our state and nation desperately need.DONALD MILESPennsylvania Sierra Club