Given this, one would hope to see CLF advocate in favor of the power-line project, and make the public understand that the environmental consequences of the power line would be limited and indeed trivial when set against the impending consequences of climate change.

That’s not to say that we don’t see a role for large-scale hydropower in the New England energy mix – we do. But undertaking massive new transmission projects like Northern Pass is a complex, generational decision with real risks and impacts; so far, Northern Pass is not shaping up to be a reasonable approach with meaningful public benefits and is being advanced with a ruthless disregard for the communities where it would be located and for basic, undisputed facts like the carbon facts above.

You also assume that large-scale hydropower is the most cost-effective renewable resource. That is open to substantial question, in part because we don’t really have a good sense of how expensive it would be, other than Northern Pass’s non-specific marketing and flawed and dated economic analysis. We do know that new projects undertaken in Quebec and the huge transmission projects needed to link the projects with southern New England are approaching 10 cents/kwh, which is even more expensive than many land-based wind projects in development now.

Finally, it’s important to note that your point about the fossil fuel industry fighting Northern Pass is exactly backward. The project sponsor PSNH/NU is, in fact, the owner of the state’s two coal plants, collectively the largest source of carbon emissions in New Hampshire, and refuses to budge on phasing out these plants (a logical move if it was sincerely committed to fighting climate change) notwithstanding the plant’s dreadful economics, which are causing real economic damage to New Hampshire ratepayers and New Hampshire’s economy. Indeed, there is no environmental group in New England that we know of that is backing Northern Pass (including those who focus exclusively on climate), while Northern Pass is loudly trumpeting the arguments of a Koch-connected group that won’t disclose its donors and favors more natural gas pipeline, stopping Massachusetts from siting offshore wind near Cape Cod, protecting PSNH coal plants, and weakening our region’s marquee clean energy efforts – including RGGI and Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements.

While Northern Pass is wrapped in a green jacket, it is the branchild of a company with a failing coal-fired business model that it refuses to give up. The project’s environmental benefits have not been even minimally substantiated and must be compared against the many potential alternatives – from increasing import capabilities in Vermont to more aggressive investments in homegrown renewables and efficiency.

CLF is committed to advancing a cleaner energy future for the region. Supported by the state’s biggest carbon polluter and others who oppose meaningful clean energy progress, Northern Pass as currently proposed has not been demonstrated to help get us there.