Gingrich: Down with Hydro Quebec

The Republican candidate says if Canada wants to send hydroelectricity through New Hampshire, it will have to go underground.

Just as you thought the Republican nomination debates couldn’t get any worse, Newt Gingrich told voters in New Hampshire that he would deny Hydro-Québec and its American partners the opportunity to build a $1.1 billion transmission line through the state. The only way he would allow it is if the lines were buried underground so as to avoid disrupting the scenery. Even if it were technically possible to move the 330 kilometre transmission project underground through the White Mountains, it would be vastly more expensive. Meanwhile, Gingrich has openly criticized President Barack Obama for his lack of commitment to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and accused him of catering to environmental extremists. The former House Speaker told voters that Canada could change its mind if the US continued to waver and could easily get China to build the pipeline west to Vancouver instead.