Research Catalog

Title

Power on the Hudson : Storm King Mountain and the emergence of modern American environmentalism / Robert D. Lifset.

Author

Lifset, Robert, 1974-

Publication

Pittsburg, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 309 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

• "The beauty of the Hudson River Valley was a legendary subject for artists during the nineteenth century. They portrayed its bucolic settings and humans in harmony with nature as the physical manifestation of God's work on earth. More than a hundred years later, those sentiments would be tested as never before. In the fall of 1962, Consolidated Edison of New York, the nation's largest utility company, announced plans for the construction of a pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant at Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River, forty miles north of New York City. Over the next eighteen years, their struggle against environmentalists would culminate in the abandonment of the project. Robert D. Lifset offers an original case history of this monumental event in environmental history, when a small group of concerned local residents initiated a landmark case of ecology versus energy production.^ He follows the progress of this struggle, as Con Ed won approvals and permits early on, but later lost ground to environmentalists who were able to raise questions about the potential damage to the habitat of Hudson River striped bass. Lifset uses the struggle over Storm King to examine how environmentalism changed during the 1960s and 1970s. He also views the financial challenges and increasingly frequent blackouts faced by Con Ed, along with the pressure to produce ever-larger quantities of energy. As Lifset demonstrates, the environmental cause was greatly empowered by the fact that through this struggle, for the first time, environmentalists were able to gain access to the federal courts. The environmental cause was also greatly advanced by adopting scientific evidence of ecological change, combined with mounting public awareness of the environmental consequences of energy production and consumption.^ These became major factors supporting the case against Con Ed, spawning a range of new local, regional, and national environmental organizations and bequeathing to the Hudson River Valley a vigilant and intense environmental awareness. A new balance of power emerged, and energy companies would now be held to higher standards that protected the environment"--
• "Robert D. Lifset offers an original case history of a major event in environmental history--when a small group of local residents initiated a landmark case of ecology versus energy production and challenged the construction of the Storm King pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant on the Hudson River in the 1960s"--

Series Statement

History of the urban environment

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• History of the urban environment.

Subject

• Consolidated Edison Company of New York, inc
• HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
• Electric power-plants > Environmental aspects > New York (State)
• Environmental policy > Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)
• Environmentalism > Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.) > History > 20th century
• HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
• SCIENCE / Environmental Science
• SCIENCE / Energy
• Hydroelectric power plants > Environmental aspects > History > New York (State) > 20th century
• Hydroelectric power plants > Law and legislation > History > New York (State) > 20th century
• Environmental protection > Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.) > Citizen participation > History > 20th century
• Environmental policy > Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.) > History > 20th century
• Storm King Mountain (N.Y.)
• Storm King Mountain (N.Y.) > Environmental conditions

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction: Environmentalism, energy, and the Hudson River Valley -- Part I. The Growing Importance of Ecology within Environmentalism: Storm King, 1962{u2013}1965. 1. The Co-optation of Establishment Environmentalism and the Emergence of Scenic Hudson -- 2. Scenic Hudson{u2019}s Losing Effort -- 3. Scenic Hudson Finds Ecology and the Zeitgeist -- 4. The Politics of Storm King -- 5. The Scenic Hudson Case -- Part II. The Struggle between Energy and Environmentalism: Storm King, 1966{u2013}1972. 6. The Federal Power Commission versus Environmentalists -- 7. Scenic Hudson Attacks Con Ed{u2019}s Political Support -- 8. The Expansion of Environmentalism in the Hudson River Valley -- Part III. A New Balance of Power: Storm King, 1970{u2013}1980. 9. The Proliferation of Lawsuits in the Hudson River Valley -- 10. The Sex Life of Striped Bass and Con Ed{u2019}s Near-Death Experience -- 11. The Hudson River Peace Treaty of 1980 -- Epilogue: The Legacy of Storm King, 1981{u2013}2012.

ISBN

• 9780822963059 (paperback)
• 0822963051 (paperback)

LCCN

^^2014023325

OCLC

• 864504659
• SCSB-10749609

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library