To the editor:

New York City is actively transitioning to receiving electricity from renewable energy sources to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Hydro-Quebec is NYC’s knight in shining armor, as they have been approved to supply about 20% of the city’s electrical demand through the use of hydropower. Hydro-Quebec’s existing hydro dams and the development of the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission line will facilitate this transfer of electricity. New York should recognize the plight Indigenous communities endure as a result of this process.

The partnership with Hydro-Quebec is marketed as a positive sustainable solution, however, it is not an ethical one. CHPE utilizes hydro dams that have had devastating impacts on Indigenous communities’ livelihoods. The Quebec Innu community in particular has been vulnerable to this harm.

One of Newfoundland’s largest hydro dams — Churchill Falls hydroelectric station — has allegedly illicitly appropriated Innu land. In the early 1970s the damming of Churchill River caused significant flooding, ultimately resulting in community displacement and ecological damage. Flood destruction is exacerbated through its ability to spread pollutants such as methylmercury. This neurotoxin seeps into water and accumulates in the abundance of fish that is used to sustain much of Indigenous life.

Land and water sacred to the Innu tribe and other Indigenous groups are at threat of becoming further industrialized. The CHPE project will force trenches to be dug for the transmission lines in Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, potentially resulting in increased flooding.

To deny history would be to deny change, and Indigenous groups have been privy to the catastrophe caused by dams in the past when environmental safeguards weren’t in place. The Oahe dam in South Dakota was intended to be a great power source for the U.S., however, had catastrophic and irreversible impacts on Indigenous domain.

This year the Innu community filed a lawsuit against Hydro-Quebec for $2.2 billion, seeking justice for the damages caused by Churchill Falls hydroelectric station. The group has yet to receive compensation.

Miles Geiger

Saratoga Springs

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CORRECTION: This letter has been updated to correct the location of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric station.