Oral Abstract Details

Author(s):
Nejem Raheem, Murray Rudd

Affiliation:
Emerson College, University of York

Presentation Type:
Oral

Topic Area:
Evaluating changes to ecosystem goods and services along urban-rural gradients

Abstract Text:
Increases in demand for electricity and sustainable energy in urban and suburban areas can lead to the construction of generation infrastructure in remote regions. This creates a spatial disparity in costs and benefits, particularly with respect to ecosystem services. The proposed Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Project (LCHP) in central Labrador, Canada, consists of two dams on a boreal river, and would generate electricity that would be transmitted away from the project site, to markets on the island of Newfoundland and elsewhere. Many of the project benefits, such as more-abundant electricity, will accrue to non-residents. Labradorians will reap benefits as well, in the form of employment, but the ecosystem services costs of the project will be borne entirely in Labrador, a fact not addressed in the current Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA). Even with seemingly environmentally benign technology such as hydroelectric generation, ecosystem service impacts can range from methylmercury contamination and methane release to loss of traditional indigenous hunting areas. While many of these potential ecological effects are addressed in the EIA for the project, they are not counted as costs. Despite considerable improvements in valuation methodology, guidance on its inclusion in the CBA and EIA process, Canadian Law does not require CBA for EIAs, only for regulatory change. In the light of this absence, ex-ante EIAs often do not provide clear descriptions of impacts. We argue that the project analysis for LCHP should include ecosystem service valuation as part of a project Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA). To accomplish this end, we have designed a set of choice experiments to value some of the ecosystem service effects and address the cost-benefit disparity. We believe that by counting ecosystem service impacts as costs, and by conducting the requisite valuation research, potential customers, Canadian citizens, and the project proponents would all be better informed. Hopefully this improved information will lead to more informed choices in terms of power generation, design of power infrastructure and rates, and conservation efforts.