Should we tear down dams, or use hydropower to fight climate change? | Repowering the West, Episode 4

Hydropower from dams is the primary source of clean energy in Idaho, whose major power company has pledged 100% clean energy by 2045. But when dams threaten natural rivers and fish, can hydropower really count as clean?

Sept. 26, 2023 3 AM PT

In this episode of Repowering the West, energy reporter Sammy Roth and a team of visual journalists spent a week in Idaho trying to find out: Are hydropower dams a valuable source of climate-friendly energy? Or a fish-killing monstrosity that should be torn down?

Read the story.

Climate & Environment Business

Jessica Q. Chen

Jessica Q. Chen is a Chinese American filmmaker and journalist whose work explores stories and change around women’s issues, youth culture and sports. She was the series producer for L.A. Times Short Docs.

Maggie Beidelman

Maggie Beidelman is a former senior video director for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2019, Beidelman helped launch AJ+, the digital media channel of Al Jazeera Media Network, where she produced the award-winning series “Untold America.” Beidelman has her master’s in documentary film from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.