Re: “Trump preserved the Snake River dams. It will benefit the Northwest” (June 27, Opinion):
President Donald Trump neither preserved the Snake River dams by abandoning the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, nor did his action benefit the Northwest.
He simply destroyed the cooperative work of the agreement. The decades-long legal battle will now resume.
The reports that the salmon are recovering are, sadly, untrue. Most Lower Snake wild fish runs hover on the brink of extinction, and it may already be too late to save the southern resident orcas, who eat mostly Chinook salmon and who are starving.
The four Lower Snake River Dams provide only about 4% of the Northwest’s power. Formerly-barged grain could make it to market on 140 miles of improved train tracks. There will be plentiful water for irrigation without the dams. For these replaceable items, must we lose our salmon, orcas and an utterly unique, vast ecosystem, while violating tribal treaties? Surely not.
Hydropower is not “clean” power. The slack water behind the dams produces methane gas. The gas output will only increase as temperatures continue to rise. The high temperatures will also increase salmon kills. Salmon require cool water to live.
The science supports dam breaching as a critical step in healing the Snake River. When? Now!
Marjorie Millner, Vancouver
