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Crucial Hydropower by Larry Rupp The Idaho Statesman, June 12, 2005

Referring to your June 5 editorial and that of Bill Sedivy on wild salmon and Snake River dam removal, you and the other dam-breachers fail to address an important point .

How do you plan to replace the lost electric power? Buy more crude oil from the Arabs? Any oil geologist will tell you that we've already consumed over half of the crude oil that was bestowed on this planet.

(bluefish: has compiled some information as to where 1150 aMW could be harnessed, available as a Word document at elsewhere.doc)

What that means is that starting this year or next year worldwide reserves of oil will begin an irreversible decline. Coal and natural gas will follow, if they haven't peaked already.

Sedivy's solution, that the dams can be replaced by one gas turbine plant, defies logic.

Where are you going to get the natural gas? Gas fields in the lower 48 are being rapidly depleted. Get it from Canada?

That is also a non-renewable source and, besides, the Canadians want hard cash for their gas and if you've looked at your Intermountain Gas bill lately it isn't getting any cheaper.

The solutions given to replace that lost power are all long-term extending over a period of years. But when those dams are breached the power goes off now. And we freeze in the dark.