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Commentaries and editorials

Snake River Electricity

by Leonard Butters
Spokesman-Review, May 18, 2019

Graphic: Energy Strategies analysis used 77 years of historic water flows, and 80 years of Temperature/Load data to run 6160 simulations in NW Power & Conservation Council's GENESYS to determine the Northwest's resource adequacy. A recent letter to the editor ("Do we really need dams?" Laurie Kerr, May 11) asserted that power generation from the Snake River dams was not necessary because the Pacific Northwest will soon be energy independent.

Although I am torn on the whole subject of Snake River dams, the fish and the whales have been surviving the last 50 years with the dams in place. I would suggest that climate change is the ultimate culprit and the sooner we go all solar, wind, hydroelectric, and yes, even nuclear, the sooner we can reverse the climate change trend.

And just because the Northwest might soon be "energy independent," hydroelectric power shipped to nearby coal/gas-burning states would still minimize global CO2 pollution.

Related Pages:
Breaching Snake River Dams Could Save Salmon and Orcas, But Destroy Livelihoods by Ron Judd, Pacific NW Magazine, 3/21/19


Leonard Butters, Spokane
Snake River Electricity
Spokesman-Review, May 18, 2019

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