Levy letter: Dams, salmon
Northwest River Partners continues to mislead the public with Terry Flores at the helm. Her latest rebuttal (Aug. 19) continues her pattern of overstating the benefits of the lower Snake River dams.
Terry’s argument aptly defends large hydropower projects like Grand Coulee or Chief Joseph dams that truly “keep the lights on,” but the four lower Snake dams are not nearly as important as she would have us all believe.
Notably, Terry is unable to cite any report or study that supports her claims. To the contrary, the recently released Seventh Power Plan from the NW Power and Conservation Council modeled hundreds of water supply scenarios and found that exporting less surplus power would be the preferred, “Least Cost Resource Strategy,” if the four dams were to be removed.
Moreover, the Seventh Power Plan shows us that energy conservation programs sponsored by utilities effectively replaces one dam each year. Experts assure us that without the dams, rolling blackouts would not occur. Undeterred, Terry Flores would have us believe otherwise.
Next time Terry submits an opinion piece, please ask her to support her arguments. Providing her the platform to mislead us further is not in the public interest.
Scott Levy, Ketchum
This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Levy letter: Dams, salmon."