As Tara Lohan of The Revelator reports, the benefits of the US relying on the importation of hydro-electric energy (specifically through Canada) is unclear, and it may be more sustainable to source this power closer to home.
- New England gets 17% of its energy from Canadian hydropower, Midwest states get around 12% and New York gets 5%.
- Most prime locations for Dams in the US (and in Europe, too) have already been built on, and domestic effort now focuses mostly on updating older and failing infrastructure rather than building new dams.
- Through regulatory and licensing reform, the United States can grow its hydropower fleet.
“Hydropower may be renewable, he says, but from an environmental perspective it isn’t sustainable. ‘Unless a river’s value is zero,’ he says. ‘If a river has any value as an ecosystem, as a host for life, then hydropower isn’t even a consideration.'”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
