CORTLANDT — A massive nuclear power plant sitting idle on the eastern bank of the Hudson River could be repowered, helping alleviate New York’s high energy costs and air pollution levels, both worsened by surging fossil fuel use.
But the stigma of reopening a controversial power source that environmentalists and other advocacy organizations fought for years to shut down has left the plant out of the ongoing discussions about reducing New York’s carbon emissions.
Gov. Kathy Hochul does not support reviving the plant, which closed four months before she ascended to the governor’s office, although she has said it was shuttered “without having a plan B in place.” Instead, the governor wants to build new reactors in the far reaches of upstate New York, far from New York City, where the power is needed most.
The Indian Point plant in upper Westchester County closed in April 2021 after years of fierce efforts from state leaders critical of its safety, including former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and celebrity environmentalists such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now runs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services…