Number: 1998-12
WHEREAS, Hydro-Quebec, the provincial power utility, is competing in the United States power market with current bulk sales of power to utilities in New York and New England and recently received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to sell electricity without regulatory oversight to utilities, to the new “power exchanges” now being set up, and to individual industrial, commercial and residential consumers; and
WHEREAS, Hydro-Quebec recently announced plans to take advantage of U.S. power market deregulation by expanding its capacity to export electricity to the United States, increasing energy sales and generation 25 percent over the next 10 years; and
WHEREAS, Hydro-Quebec’s expansion of hydroelectric facilities, in particular dams and river diversions, has threatened, and in some instances destroyed, traditional hunting and fishing lands of the Cree, Inuit and Innu peoples by flooding vast areas of territory, possibly contaminating the fish and human populations by releasing mercury into the water, and potentially contributing to global warming by releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere; and has been opposed by the indigenous peoples of the Province of Quebec since the mid-1970’s, when leaders of the Cree, Innu and Inuit peoples living in the Province of Quebec resisted the expansion of massive hydroelectric dams on their historic lands; and
WHEREAS, in native communities where dams have been built, the traditional way-of-life has been compromised; and
WHEREAS, in areas where rivers have been diverted, traditional caribou migration patterns have been affected; and
WHEREAS, the Great Whale River, a magnificent free-flowing river emptying into Hudson Bay that was saved from destruction by the determined actions of Cree and Inuit people living in the region, along with Canadian and United States environmentalists, including the National Wildlife Federation (see Resolution #20, 1991), when long-term power contracts with New York State were canceled in 1992, is once again threatened by a capacity expansion project; and
WHEREAS, in the St. Lawrence River watershed, Hydro-Quebec plans to divert the Carheil and Pekans Rivers, two headwater streams that flow into the Moise River, one of the most productive Atlantic salmon rivers in North America, in order to increase the water flow through several existing dams;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 19 – 22,1998, in Alexandria, Virginia, urges Hydro-Quebec and the Government of Quebec to respect the rights of all peoples, including indigenous people, to determine the future of their natural resources as the province develops its hydroelectric infrastructure; free flowing rivers should remain so, fisheries, waterfowl flyways and critical wildlife habitat should be protected; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon U.S. electric utilities and power transmitters not to buy additional electricity or renew existing contracts or transmit power generated by Hydro-Quebec or any other electric utility that builds destructive new dam or river diversion projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the Congress of the United States to insure that imported electric power is subject to the same environmental standards as electricity generated in the United States; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges that in order for consumers to make educated choices between competing electricity providers in a deregulated power market, comparative information about the source of electricity generation including the impact on indigenous people, wildlife and waterfowl be widely disseminated to customers along with other environmental impact information.