Protesters in Syracuse call on Hochul to drop push for more nuclear power in NY

Syracuse, N.Y. — About 50 protesters gathered in Syracuse Tuesday to demand that Gov. Kathy Hochul drop her effort to build more nuclear power plants in New York state.

The protesters gathered on East Onondaga Street in front of the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, where state officials are holding a two-day summit on nuclear energy.

Hochul has leaned into nuclear power as a way to decrease carbon emissions and help the state meet its goal of running the electric grid without greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. She ordered the New York Power Authority this summer to develop 1,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity as soon as possible.

The protesters derided nuclear power as an environmental hazard that costs too much money.

Jeanne Shenandoah, a member of the Onondaga Nation, said she thought an expansion of nuclear power would be “dangerous.”

“We’re the people that will have to deal with this,” she said. “The need to listen to us.”

Ethan Gormley, an organizer with the activist group Citizen Action, said the governor should focus on other power sources like wind, solar and geothermal.

“Governor Hochul has taken her eye off the ball and has fallen for a radioactive pipe dream,” he said.

Hochul spokesperson Ken Lovett said he hoped the activists would join the governor in her all-of-the-above approach on energy generation.