Number: 1991-20
WHEREAS, Hydro-Quebec has developed over 10,000 megawatts of capacity and is planning another 15,000 megawatts of new hydroelectric generating capacity, through construction of thirty-five dams, substantially altering ten major rivers flowing into James Bay and Hudson’s Bay; and
WHEREAS, the majority of this power is intended for sale in the northeastern United States; and
WHEREAS, northern Quebec is one of the few remaining vast wilderness areas on the North American continent; and
WHEREAS, the people of the Cree and Inuit tribes in the northern Quebec region depend on the fish and wildlife resources of that region to continue traditional economies that have been their livelihood for over two thousand years; and
WHEREAS, the development of the James Bay Project has destroyed and will continue to destroy prime wildlife habitat, generate the toxic bioaccumulation of mercury, and limit the ability of the land to support the indigenous human economy; and
WHEREAS, the ecological integrity of the land, the rivers, the wildlife and the people of the northern Quebec region is threatened by further expansion of the James Bay Hydroelectric projects; and
WHEREAS, Phase II of the projects will be planned, designed and operated without the prior environmental analysis that would be required if the powerplants were to be located in the United States, and cumulative impacts–those environmental impacts considered external to immediate project impacts–are being ignored; and
WHEREAS, Hydro-Quebec, the project sponsor, has not explored all reasonable alternatives to expansion of the James Bay Projects, as would be required under the U. S. National Environmental Policy Act, including least-cost energy planning, conservation, solar, wind, biomass and other demand management and low-impact renewable energy sources, for both the United States and Canada;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 21-24, 1991, in Memphis, Tennessee, calls upon the Province of Quebec and the Canadian nation to require thorough independent review of ecological and human impacts of existing and proposed elements of the James Bay Hydroelectric Project, prior to any new construction or expansion beyond the existing project or related infrastructure; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the legislative bodies and energy review boards of the states of the northeastern United States, as they consider the importation of electricity from the James Bay Project, to give careful consideration to all of the ecological and human impacts of the Project, to evaluate the potential for alternative sources and conservation, and to require maximum economical investment in demand side management as a prerequisite for the importation of power from the James Bay Project; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the electric utilities of the United States and Canada to pursue policies of committed investment in energy conservation and low-impact energy sources as the first step in a long-term, ecologically sound energy development strategy.