The hypocrisy behind tearing down Washington’s Lower Snake River Dams.

We have been inundated by the Governor with his reasons for wanted to remove the four Lower Snake River Dams in Washington State.  We hear about the salmon population, the health of the Southern Resident Orca, the need to return the river to it's "wild" state.  What you don't hear from the Gov., or his allies, is the damage that will be caused and how that damage flies in the face of his biggest pet priority.

Climate Change

Believe what you want about climate change, not going to debate that here.  What I will say is that if you are so determined to get to a zero carbon footprint in Washington State, then destroying four dams that generate the cleanest form of energy, hydropower, will not advance that goal.  Taking it a step further, by destroying the Lower Snake River Dams you will guarantee that your carbon emission targets will be, no pun intended, blown out of the water because..............

Photo by Dina Nasyrova on Unsplash

Ending the barge system

Removing the dams will make the Snake much harder to navigate for transport meaning the barging of Ag crops will come to end and add over 150,000 semi trucks to the roadways as the new form of crop transport.  That will work great for keeping carbon pollution to a minimum as electric semi-trucks are rolling off the production line as fast as molasses rolls uphill at Mt. Everest.  The same report revealed transportation emissions would increase 53% as a result.  Doesn't sound like Captain climate Change's most environmentally friendly idea.

The Southern Resident Orca Myth

The claim is that salmon from the Snake River as a food source for the Southern Resident Orca and the threat to salmon survival by the Snake River dams in turn threatens the Orca's chances.  While there are Chinook salmon that come from the Snake, the majority that the Southern Resident Orca feed on come from the Skagit, Fraser, Snohomish, and other rivers that dump into the Puget Sound.  Speaking of dumping into the sound, tens of millions of gallons of wastewater are dumped in to Puget Sound each year adding nitrates and other toxic elements into the water the Orca and it's food source live.  Drugs also find their way into the water supply through that contamination and are absorbed by fish and Orca alike.....but hey, let's destroy an entire region's economy and blow up the power grid instead of looking to clean up our own backyard first.

The Grid

The Gov and his like minded associates want to get rid of gas powered vehicles in the State by every means available.  That would mean an onslaught of right now, less than affordable to the masses, electric vehicles hitting the roads.  With that comes a massive toll on the energy grid.  The Dams contribution to the power grid cannot be understated, especially when the alternatives contribute single digits to the grid.  Those dams alone, according to the Bonneville Power Administration, prevented rolling blackouts from occurring in June of 2021 during a huge heatwave......and about those alternative sources

The LA Times recently did an expose on the dangers presented by solar panels.  The toxicity levels contained in the panels as well as lithium ion batteries used in electric cars present recycling and disposal issues.  More often than not an alternative solution is supposed to be better than it's replacement, but is that really the goal here?  Is the goal to ignore the evidence, and instead of creating a balance between a variety of energy sources to best serve people, create a funnel through people will have fewer options and pay more in the longer run for a less reliable product to simply further an agenda?  In a word......Yes.