New York City Hosts Panel Discussion Amidst Mayor’s Support for More Canadian Hydro Power

NEW YORK CITY--Today, the Sierra Club with the North American Megadam Resistance Alliance, UPROSE and Indigenous community members hosted a panel discussing the negative impacts of large hydropower dams. The forum brought stories from the frontlines of Canadian megadam resistance to New York at a time when the state is considering Hydro-Quebec as part of the OneNYC plan to address climate change.

The Canadian hydropower industry is marketing its power in the U.S. as renewable, clean and green without acknowledging the negative environmental, social and economic impacts being felt in Canada. The ten-day tour is travelling across the Northeast from Nov. 19 - 29, stopping in key battlegrounds in the fight against dirty, destructive Canadian hydro and transmission corridors. 

On Monday, Hudson Riverkeeper withdrew its support for the $3 billion Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) which would be needed for the importation of hydropower New York seeks to purchase from Hydro-Quebec. CHPE was first proposed in 2010 and languished until May 2019 when Hydro-Quebec convinced New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio to include imported hydropower as part of the City’s OneNYC green energy plan. The City has announced it will seek advice on obtaining municipal funding for CHPE, a highly unusual step.

Spokespeople for the National American Megadams Resistance Alliance, the Sierra Club and the Grand Riverkeeper Labrador had the following to say: 

“Canadian hydropower developments have left an unacceptable trail of  human, environmental and economic devastation across Canada. New York has been importing this destructive form of energy since the 1900s. Importing more is a step backward and perpetuates the cultural genocide of Indigenous people whose lands, waters and ways of life have been destroyed--and U.S. consumers of this power are complicit in this devastation, if they continue to support this power.  Meg Sheehan, North American Megadam Resistance Alliance coordinator said. “Hudson Riverkeeper’ realizes this and the withdrawal of support is a win-win for the local, renewable energy economy in New York and the Indigenous people of Canada, the environment, and the climate. Riverkeepers’ decision shows that false solutions like Canadian hydropower that is being greenwashed has no place in a clean energy plan.”  

"While the climate crisis demands a swift decarbonization of New York City's electricity, we're confident that there are better solutions for our city than a power-purchase agreement with Canadian megadam company HydroQuebec," said Shay O'Reilly, Senior Organizing Representative for the Sierra Club. "We can instead invest in local renewable energy, with our public money going towards a solution that will provide good economic and social benefits for the people of New York City." 

“The announcement from the Riverkeeper’s is step forward for all rivers globally and especially for rivers the Waterkeeper Alliance seeks to protect.” Roberta Benefiel, Grand Riverkeeper Labrador, Inc. stated, “US consumers are responsible for some of this destruction. We must stop the stop the exports via CHPE and the Central Maine Power corridors. Enough is enough.”