Energy Activist Online

We remember 30 years of clean and affordable energy success…

The NW Energy Coalition, was born of the battle against the absurdly misguided attempt to litter the Northwest with dozens of dangerous, polluting, unneeded and expensive nuclear power plants.

Much has changed in three decades, from the organization’s name, to the breadth of its advocacy, to the Northwest’s energy landscape itself.

Here’s a few examples…

For too long, the region has failed to strike the credible balance between hydropower production and salmon survival required by the 1980 Northwest Power Act. Some wild salmon runs have gone entirely extinct; several others remain stuck in an endless loop of Endangered Species Act processes, insufficient federal actions and litigation. Millions of energy ratepayer dollars have been wasted on ineffective salmon mitigation programs…

Everyone who works in energy knows we deal with complicated issues. Energy is connected to everything and everybody. The nation’s energy paradigm took form over many decades and is resistant to change. Yet moving to a new energy future requires fundamental changes in existing relationships and ways of doing business. We will have to make – and are making – hard choices, balancing competing objectives and outcomes.

Three decades of successful advocacy for clean energy and abundant wild salmon will be celebrated with a 30th Anniversary Gala the evening of Friday, Dec. 2, in Seattle…

The greatest future challenges for low-income and other energy consumers are readily apparent today. These include the fundamental affordability of electricity, climate change, energy efficiency costs and benefits, integrating new renewables such as wind, and the promises and dangers of the “smart grid…”

Set for Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2-3, in Seattle, the Conference will tackle some of the most pressing issues and fascinating developments in the campaign for a clean energy future. Utility regulation, salmon recovery, clean energy for buildings, transmission/ecosystem issues will be on the agenda…

The Coalition’s diverse and active membership makes it one of the Northwest’s most influential public-interest voices on energy policy. We must continue our long history of reaching out and bringing new partners into our work…

The NW Energy Coalition should be incredibly proud of the recent deals to shutter the Boardman and Centralia coal plants. The Coalition’s work – the long legacy of achievement in energy efficiency, renewable resources and energy system planning – is what made this transition thinkable, then doable, then done.

King Coal, however, is not taking our progress lying down…