Op-Ed: Dam Removal Extremists on the March in NW and DC

Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Dam Removal Extremists on the March in NW and DC

Dam removal extremists are aggressively pushing their agenda from a federal courtroom in Portland, Oregon to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.

In May, Judge Redden threatened to upend a new salmon recovery plan that resulted from an unprecedented level of collaboration among all federal agencies, three states and the region's major Indian tribes. Judge Redden warned that bipartisan agreement on a scientifically-based plan may not be good enough for his personal tastes and that he was contemplating a move to single-handedly inject Snake River dam removal into the plan. With this action, Judge Redden chose to take up the fight of the dam removal extremists that are funding the lawsuit against the salmon recovery plan.

What's most important to understand is that Judge Redden has no authority to order dam removal. Federal law doesn't allow dam removal and no Democrat-politician-turned-activist-Judge can rewrite the law (before Jimmy Carter appointed him to a judgeship, Redden was a Democrat elected official). Only Congress has the power to authorize dam removal.

Since Judge Redden issued his dam removal threat, the Obama Administration has been working on how it will reply. While the President's position is still unknown, I've spoken with Administration officials and hope they understand that dam removal would have devastating consequences for our region's economy. The four Snake River dams are invaluable components of the Northwest's clean, low-cost hydropower system that thousands and thousands of jobs rely upon. Dam removal is an extreme action that would kill jobs in the Northwest, raise power bills, lead to huge increases in greenhouse gas emissions, and there's no scientific proof it would guarantee salmon recovery.

Yet these facts didn't stop Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott and other powerful Democrats from introducing legislation on July 31st that targets the four Snake River dams for removal.

One of the first places this dam removal bill will land in Congress is on my desk as the top Republican on the House Committee on Natural Resources. I've pledged to do everything in my power to stop it.

I've no doubt that dam removal activists will continue their lawsuits, their fundraising campaigns and their fight to spoil agreement on policies that will actually recover fish in the Northwest. Yet I have a very clear message for these professional activists who make a living off of pushing their dam removal agenda: Northwest citizens understand we can protect our clean, renewable hydropower and recover salmon at the same time.

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