Niagara's Lie

Ginger Strand's "Faux Falls" (pages 131-142) looks at the "collateral damage" caused by hydro-electric power.

The article notes that 7% of electricity in the United States comes from hydro, whereas 70% comes from burning fossil fuels. On the surface, hydro doesn't seem to have any nasty byproducts.

Strand's article makes it clear, however, that where there's a cheap source of electricity, pollution will follow -- i.e. through the build up of factories along the river banks.

And something that I hadn't realized before: This is where Love Canal happened.

Can Niagara be blamed for Love Canal? That's a bit of stretch to me; Strand's point, though, is that actions have consequences. Niagara Falls is now a "man-made" tourist trap, and we have the power to literally turn off the falls. Ironically, tourists might be the only thing that "saved" the Falls.