According to Wikipedia, “greenwashing” is “a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization’s products, aims and policies are environmentally friendly.” Greenwashing is exactly what Central Maine Power is doing when it promotes the New England Clean Energy Connect, referred to as the corridor, as a way to bring “clean” energy from Quebec to Massachusetts. Hydropower is not clean energy. The true reason CMP supports building the corridor is for financial gain.
According to a Feb. 3 article by Tara Lohan in the Center for Biological Diversity’s The Revelator, the United States has begun including dam emissions in U.N. climate reporting. Lohan continues: “If operators of hydroelectric dams are required to regularly report emissions, government agencies could make better-informed permitting decisions and better assess whether new projects should be built.”
Most likely an independent study would reveal that the New England Clean Energy Connect is not the “clean energy” alternative it is described as. Research has found that “reservoirs can emit significant amounts of methane,” The Revelator’s Lohan reported in an April 25, 2022, article. Yet hydropower continues to be incorrectly regarded as a clean, emissions-free energy source. Given this knowledge, CMP needs to stop promoting NECEC as transmitting clean energy from Hydro-Quebec to Massachusetts.
Look beyond the corporate greenwashing. Study the facts. Stop the New England Clean Energy Connect before more environmental damage occurs.
Linda Woods
Waterville
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