The founders of the NW Energy Coalition recognized a painful truth: that the bountiful cheap electricity produced by the Northwest’s system of federally financed hydropower dams came at the cost of the incredible wild salmon runs that once defined our watershed and supported myriad cultures and communities. So they made sure the 1980 Northwest Power and Conservation Act required equitable use of Columbia Basin waters for power and fish.
Since then, this Coalition and our partners have had to fight tooth and nail to realize even minimal progress on that mandate. To this day, the federal agencies that run the dams and market their power have failed to offer any legally valid or scientifically defensible plan for recovering the iconic and economically crucial salmon stocks.
The next few months offer exciting potential to escape that quicksand…
The NW Energy Coalition strongly supports a Solutions Table on endangered Columbia Basin salmon, by which we mean comprehensive, multi-party stakeholder negotiations. I had to chuckle when I heard of a high-level federal civil servant’s discomfort with using the term “Solutions Table” to describe the effort. Apparently, the fed would be more comfortable with a “process” than a “table.”
“Solutions Table” evokes a clear and optimistic image. But make no mistake – a lot of work will be needed to bring all the necessary parties together and to forge solutions…
Your NWEC donation goes farther on May 2!
The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG is a one-day, online charitable giving event.
Make a donation to the NW Energy Coalition through GiveBIG any time before midnight (PST) on May 2 and the Coalition will receive pro-rated matching funds from the “stretch” pool.
Each spring the NW Energy Coalition holds its semi-annual NW Clean & Affordable Energy Conference and board meeting east of the Cascades. This May 18-19 we’ll be in Kalispell, Mont.
Kalispell is the perfect setting for a spring meeting. Nestled in the Flathead Valley in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, it boasts beautiful outdoor scenery from Glacier National Park to Flathead Lake…