TRUTH SQUAD
Dam a Pristine River? No Way.
T
he Alaska Energy Authority is pushing to build the second-tallest hydropower
dam in the United States on the Susitna River. The project would create a 42-mile-long reservoir, flooding approximately 24,000 acres of wilderness. It would also threaten the river’s economically and culturally significant salmon runs as well as the habitat of such iconic Alaskan wildlife as brown and black bears, moose, caribou, wolves, and bald eagles. Two experts in NRDC’s water program, senior scientist MONTY SCHMITT and staff attorney NOAH GARRISON, call out numerous inaccuracies in a recent AEA brochure promoting the proposed project.
Giving for Life Growing up on a farm, Laura
1. Susitna-Watana Hydro will ena ble Alaska to achieve its goal of providing 50 percent of its electrical energy from renewa ble sources by 2025. Don’t need a dam for that!
! W e’ re sk ep ti c al
2. Only one salmon species has been documented
within 35 miles of the projec t site.
3. Susitna-Watana Hydro will hel p diversify Alaska’s energy portfolio and decrease our N o t re al ly dependence on fossil fuels. 4. [The project would create] an estimated 1,000 jobs during construction phase and 20 full-time jobs…to maintain and operate the facility once completed.
* Roughly half of all states in the country do not consider large hydropower projects such as the proposed Susitna dam “renewable,” and rightfully so: large dams damage healthy river systems and the fish and wildlife that inhabit them.
6 2 onearth
* Even if this were
true (studies cited to support the project are widely viewed as flawed), Chinook salmon are vital to the region’s commercial and sportfishing industries and overall economy. The dam’s effects on Chinook and four other salmon species downstream of the proposed site would be devastating.
winter 2013/2014
* Alaska already gets
21 percent of its energy from hydropower, so this project wouldn’t diversify the state’s energy. Instead, the $5.2 billion cost of the dam could detract from Alaska’s renewable energy coffers, undermining efforts to increase wind, tidal, and geothermal power.
*A 2009 report by the
University of Alaska Anchorage found that healthy fisheries in the Susitna region already generate up to $64 million in personal income and support up to 1,900 sportfishing jobs. Building the dam could actually result in negative economic impact and job losses.
Chenel appreciated the interconnectedness of humans and animals, especially farm animals. From her earliest days, she felt kinship with every living thing. That strong connection continued through her professional life, when Chenel became the first U.S. commercial producer of goat cheese. Over the years, she has made many gifts to NRDC, and in 2013 joined a trip to Baja to see the ancient habitat of gray whales, which was protected from industrial development by an NRDC campaign. Chenel describes it as “a life-changing experience” and an opportunity to experience firsthand the results of the organization’s work. “NRDC fights the good fight for those of us unable to do so as individuals,” she says. “I’m especially impressed by its effective use of litigation.” When she sold her company, Chenel began to consider her legacy. “I wanted to go beyond my business success, to do something more far-reaching,” she says, “to leave a legacy that could benefit the diversity of life on our planet.” She decided to include a bequest to NRDC in her will. Chenel sees her bequest as a statement of her values and as another way of protecting the earth. “I can sleep better,” she says, “knowing my resources will make a difference.” For information on how
to leave your own lasting legacy, contact Michelle Mulia-Howell, director of gift planning, at legacygifts@nrdc.org or 212-727-4421.