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Thank you for asking the question about the four lower Snake River dams, but you took my first comment out of context. No way should we replace the small amount of energy produced by these dams with coal. Like I said before, we have clean, safe and salmon-friendly alternatives that will easily and affordably replace this energy. The Bright Future report proves that we can replace the majority of this with just energy conservation and efficiency.

Chuck also said that the other endangered species in the mainstem Columbia need help as well. I totally agree. And the best available science shows that removing the four lower Snake River dams would actually help these populations out by increasing river flow and keeping the river temperatures cool when salmon are migrating through the system.

And to respond to Chuck's timeline of lower Snake River dam removal — this does not have to be 20 years away. We have the opportunity now to remove these dams, save salmon, create jobs, develop a clean energy future and protect our Northwest way of life. The political landscape has changed and the Obama administration has made bold moves away from the status quo. Their engagement in the litigation over the latest BiOp is welcomed and gives me hope for our Columbia-Snake River salmon.

posted 3 years ago
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Wow! BPA is sure to get their point across on this show!

The one voice that I fear will be missing here, is one on the negative impact of the hydrosystem on endangered salmon. Dams are by far the biggest killer of endangerd Columbia-Snake salmon and the best science says that removing the four lower Snake River dams is the key to their recovery.
As, I am sure the stacked deck of guests will undoubtedly argue that point, I wanted to point listeners to the NW Energy Coalition's recently released report entitled Bright Future, which proves that we can meet the challenge of salmon recovery and lower Snake River dam removal head on. The Northwest has plenty of affordable energy conservation and renewable energy resources to serve future power needs and fulfill our climate responsibilities, boosting our economy and creating thousands of good local jobs.

Not all dams are created equal — in fact some dams cause more harm than good. We can do better, and the accelerating climate crisis tells us we must. We can power our region without burning coal, we can save endangered salmon and we can reinvigorate our economy by building a true clean-energy future.

To read the Bright Future report, please visit: http://www.lightintheriver.org/reports.html

posted 3 years ago
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