June 2025 Connecticut River Update
The Amherst League’s update/restudy of our existing sixty-year-old position on the Connecticut River was instigated by Elizabeth Davis in conjunction with the relicensing of five hydroelectric facilities on the Connecticut River. Our League’s involvement began about four years ago and culminated with the submission of our position statement to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in April 2024; and our statement to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in February 2025.
Those statements were based primarily on that 1965/1966 position plus the LWVUS climate change position. At the time that our existing position was adopted there was very little general discussion about climate change; further, the Northfield Mountain pumped storage facility had not yet been constructed (that did not happen until the mid 1970s). It became increasingly clear that our old position, in most respects excellent and relevant to today’s environmental conditions, needed to be updated taking into account the environmental and other changes that had occurred in the past sixty years.
Accordingly, the Connecticut River Committee will meet virtually on
Thursday, June 5th, at 2:00 PM. At that meeting we would look critically at our existing position with suggestions for proposed revisions, including merely updated language. The bigger challenges will be whether we need to add a new statement pertaining to climate change (which we included in our FERC and DEP statements based on LWVUS positions); and whether we need to add a statement pertaining to the pumped storage facility, or if the proposed revised statement covers any issues pertaining to that facility.
This meeting will be open to all League members. For any Leaguer not able to attend, there will be the option to send in comments and/or proposed new language to be included in the revised position. This process will most likely give us a proposed new position statement to eventually bring to the LWVA steering committee and to LWVA members for discuss and consensus. That, most likely, will not happen until the fall.
Contact Elizabeth Davis for more information.