Syracuse, NY — On Tuesday, September 30, over 50 people — including Haudenosaunee community members and titleholders, climate and environmental justice activists, and social justice advocacy organizations — gathered outside Governor Hochul’s closed-door pro-nuclear summit on unceded Onondaga Nation territory to publicly oppose nuclear energy, naming it as a false solution for the energy and emissions crises we are facing.

The Hochul administration has floated multiple new nuclear projects and subsidies in recent months, including a proposed 1 GW “small modular reactor” and billions in subsidies for the old upstate nuclear reactors still operating on Haudenosaunee land near Lake Ontario. A portion of Governor Hochul’s nuclear plan includes attempts to collaborate with President Donald Trump. Advocates say these costly, waste-producing projects would divert public dollars from wind, solar, storage, and efficiency — solutions that are faster, cheaper, safer, and essential to meeting New York’s Climate Act mandates.

Speakers from the dozens of groups sponsoring this event also emphasized that the nuclear fuel cycle perpetuates environmental injustice, creating toxic radioactive millings and concentrated waste that disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities.

“The issue of nuclear energy is of the utmost importance for people to be aware of,” said Jeanne Shenandoah, Onondaga Nation environmental advocate and Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force member. “Nuclear energy poses a danger to the future of all life wherever mining, reactor operations, transport, and dumping happen. We must always be thankful for the earth that we live on and for what Mother Earth gives to us; this means protecting Mother Earth and resisting nuclear energy expansion. The threat of nuclear energy requires all of us to exercise responsibility and protect our homes and communities.”

“The entire nuclear industry is an environmental justice disaster, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and Nations,” said Joe Heath, Onondaga Nation General Counsel and Veterans for Peace member. “Indigenous Peoples are excluded from this discussion of our energy future. From the mining, milling, and transportation of radioactive fuel to the transportation, storage and dumping of radioactive waste, every aspect of this industry kills and poisons Indigenous people. Nuclear energy — old and new — is not ‘green’, clean, renewable, or zero emissions. Additionally, the three reactors on Onondaga land are 20 years beyond their safe operation dates and their toxic waste is crammed too tightly into cooling pools, emitted into the air and water, and transported by truck on I-81 through the center of the city of Syracuse and the Onondaga Nation’s currently-recognized territory despite the Nation’s opposition.”

“We are unequivocally opposed to the continued bail-out of the old nuclear reactors near Lake Ontario and the development of any new nuclear reactors on Haudenosaunee land or any land,” said Hilary-Anne Coppola, Community Organizer with Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (Syracuse Peace Council). “NY State needs to change their path before communities are burdened with the harms of even more toxic, radioactive chemicals in the air, water, land, and our food. There is no way to keep living beings safe from nuclear waste — some of which is being stored in Seneca Nation territory, poisoning the water of Cattaraugus Creek and the Cattaraugus Seneca community.”

“The push for nuclear by Governor Hochul ignores her own affordability concerns and is an attack on Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice,” said Ryan Madden, Indigenous Solidarity Director at NY Renews. “There can be no just transition in New York when there is continued violation of treaty agreements between the government and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Rather than increased investment in aging legacy nuclear power or untested ‘advanced’ nuclear, Governor Hochul should move forward with Cap-and-Invest and use the revenue to promote a truly renewable energy future based on solar, wind, geothermal, and long-duration battery storage.”

“After considerable discussion and evaluation over several years, the Climate Action Council decided against any major role for new nuclear power plants in the energy future for NY State,” said Dr. Robert Howarth, Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Cornell University and member of the New York State Climate Action Council. “Nuclear power is simply too expensive and too slow to deploy, and the State’s needs are far better met by renewable energy and battery storage. A new peer-reviewed study shows the false promise of small modular reactors (SMRs) that have been so heavily promoted. They are likely to be as expensive as conventional nuclear plants, and have 2 to 30 times more nuclear waste.”

“The Sierra Club has opposed the construction of nuclear power plants since 1974 with a policy set and re-affirmed by the national board,” said Don Hughes, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter member. “Nuclear is extremely costly and toxic, burdening future generations with hundreds of thousands of tons of poisonous mine tailings and highly radioactive waste. The nuclear industry is promoting itself as a zero-carbon and affordable solution to the climate crisis — which it is not. As the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, said in a September 2025 report: ‘Despite a major public relations push in the media and with policy makers for new nuclear, the anticipated nuclear revival will not happen because of the fundamentals of the technology in terms of cost, construction time, and reliability. … Nuclear projects also take far too long before a return on investment can begin to be earned, typically more than 15 years from investment decision to first power.’ The Sierra Club reiterates its stance: Real renewable energy like solar, wind, and hydro, coupled with energy storage, are far better for making electricity.”

“If you want your energy bill to explode, go nuclear,” said Deborah Porder, Lead Organizer for Indivisible Scarsdale. “Governor Hochul knows that nuclear energy is the most expensive form of energy for ratepayers. Nuclear reactors cost billions to build and clean up, which is why the industry won’t build them without government subsidies. Every nuclear power plant becomes a permanent nuclear waste dump. Investing in wind, solar and battery storage will give us the cheapest, fastest to build and cleanest energy.”

“Governor Hochul’s nuclear agenda is a dangerous distraction from the real solutions New Yorkers need,” said Laura Shindell, New York State Director at Food & Water Watch. “Nuclear projects are astronomically expensive, decades away from operation, and leave behind toxic waste with no safe disposal plan. At a moment when we must act quickly to meet our climate law, every dollar sunk into nuclear is a dollar stolen from affordable, proven renewable energy. New York should be doubling down on wind, solar, storage, and efficiency — not reviving false solutions that will only delay progress and endanger our communities.”

“It is paramount that New York is led by a governor that is clear-eyed and determined to protect our communities from the climate crisis,” said Ethan Gormley, Climate Justice Organizer, Citizen Action of New York. “Unfortunately, Governor Hochul has fallen for radioactive pipedreams in her pursuit of new nuclear technology that is too expensive, too slow, and too harmful to our communities. Governor Hochul must abandon her plan for new nuclear power in New York and commit to a rapid transition away from fossil fuels through clean, affordable, renewable energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and battery storage.”

“As impacted residents of the Indian Point region, we join our allies throughout New York State who call on Governor Hochul to halt any development of new nuclear anywhere in the state,” said Susan Van Dolsen of United for Clean Energy. “We also urge Governor Hochul not to extend the subsidies for upstate nuclear plants that have increased ratepayers utility bills and perpetuated reliance on dirty, extremely expensive energy. Governor Hochul must fully commit to advancing renewable energy.”

“Before pursuing new nuclear energy, the Climate Action Council wisely stated in their Scoping Plan that the state needs to conduct a ‘rigorous scrutiny’ of nuclear technologies,” said Brian Eden, Alliance for Nuclear-Free NY. “When they do so, New Yorkers will hear the following facts: Unlike sustainable solar, hydro, and wind power which far outpace nuclear on production and affordability, nuclear energy is the most expensive energy in the world, produces highly radioactive waste that has the capacity to outlast human civilization, and is inherently dangerous with the risk of a nuclear meltdown. The state must immediately stop all new nuclear activities, revamp the State Energy Plan, cancel NYSERDA’s pathetic Master Plan on nuclear – and follow the CLCPA Scoping Plan by immediately conducting an independent analysis of nuclear energy.”

“Calling a new approach ‘advanced’ does not guarantee improvements,” said Dr. Kathleen Nolan, President of the New York State chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “New approaches to harnessing nuclear power are experiments, putting the environment and public health at risk for very slow, extremely expensive, and inherently dangerous attempts to remake a failed technology. We know that we can generate electricity and heat and cool our homes today with faster, cheaper, proven renewable options. The jobs, comfort, and well-being that come with wind, solar, and geothermal are truly green, clean, and sustainable. We need to act immediately to save our energy system by embracing safe, practical, renewable energy sources.”

“We can’t have clean air and water and healthy, vibrant communities by promoting nuclear power and other toxic, dangerous industries,” said Tim Judson, Syracuse resident and Executive Director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “We live with the legacy of that in Central New York, from the pollution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s sacred Onondaga Lake, to the six decades of radioactive pollution and 5,000 tons of nuclear waste on the shores of Lake Ontario. We are sick of toxic industries calling the shots in Central New York, and we are sick of paying out our noses for dirty energy that poisons our air, our water, and our communities. We don’t want to pay $20 billion for a new nuclear plant, and we don’t want to pay $30 billion to subsidize four dirty, old, dangerous ones for the rest of our lives. We need Governor Hochul to do her job and make New York State truly great by focusing on building the clean, renewable energy future that New York law requires, and stop using our tax dollars and utility bills to push nuclear power, fracked gas, and toxic tech in our communities.”