It’s more than a little disingenuous for public power advocates to take out a full-page ad in the Oct. 2 Seattle Times titled, “Now is the time to talk, not fight over hydropower and salmon.”
The Northwest Public Power Association and its member organizations are the same folks that pressed the current administration to terminate the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement with Lower Columbia Tribes and the States of Washington and Oregon and end the collaborative work it supported. Their decision means the return to the litigation they claim to oppose.
Urgent action is needed now to protect Columbia and Snake River salmon and the gifts they bring to our region. Returning to court is essential to keep endangered salmon alive. Since the Boldt and Belloni decisions, the tribes have been relatively successful in protecting salmon through litigation. There’s no reason to believe they won’t prevail in court again. But it didn’t have to be this way.
If the Trump administration and public power advocates had honored federal treaty promises, the return to litigation would not be necessary.
Bob Dylan once sang, “Money doesn’t talk, it swears.” Attorneys, not ratepayers, are the only people who stand to gain from this decision.
The Rev. John P. Rosenberg, Tumwater
