President on Dam Breaching Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Breaching four dams on the Lower Snake River has returned to the news lately, after President Biden announced his support for the plan to protect NW Salmon.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says this comes about a year after a study from Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray said it was not economically feasible…
NEWHOUSE … “At some point, they left the door open to eventual dam-breaching, but they said, not today, not at this point. Because, just what you’re pointing out, that there is so much benefit derived from them that there is literally no replacement for the things that they do for us.”
The Sunnyside Republican asks how do we, in any way, replace the green energy production of the dams …
NEWHOUSE … “If we’re trying to reach a clean carbon-free environment in the next decade or two, there’s no way we’re going to do that if eliminate the transportation route that the dams provide us with the river, let alone the clean energy that they produce.”
I asked Newhouse if the pro-breaching advocates have offered any alternatives to dam breaching …
NEWHOUSE … “I think you’re touching on the very heart of the argument here. As you’ve heard me say many times, I believe, and I think we see every single day, the fact that dams and salmon do coexist. They can and they do.”
Tune in tomorrow for more … on the President’s pro-breaching stance.
