Many environmentalists and politicians including
Andrew Cuomo want to close Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester county, New York. The plant has operated since the 70s and provides a good portion of the power used in downstate New York and New York City (~30%). People are concerned about the potential for accidents and the location near a large metro area.
On the other hand, if we close Indian Point, there could be some serious problems for New York. Our electric bills are already double the national average and would go higher. We'll also would have to replace Indian Point's energy. Although there are hypothetical plans for transmission lines to transport energy from Canadian hydro-power, most replacement energy would be non-renewable. Making things even more dicey, these new plants, transmission lines and pipelines could take years to build and in the meantime we could have a shortage of power. The temporary solutions would be lowering the voltage (which damages electric motors), rolling blackouts and a conservation campaign.
You can probably guess where I stand and how I see this as yet another example of Andrew Cuomo putting public relations ahead of actual environmentalism and New York's citizens, particularly NYC residents.
What's your take?
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