Now the fate of the Southern Resident orcas in the Salish
Sea is tied to the fate of these dams. Every species of Snake River salmon is
teetering at the brink of extinction, including the chinook salmon the orcas
depend upon for survival.
The science is clear: Removing the Snake River dams is one
of the most important recovery actions needed to save salmon and Southern
Resident orcas. For decades environmental organizations have gone to court,
using the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act, to keep these iconic
species of the Pacific Northwest from going extinct, hoping to secure a better
and more permanent solution.
A few months ago Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, proposed
a plan to breach these four dams. In doing so he became the first member of
Congress to offer a solution for the Snake River.
Unfortunately, his proposal is a Trojan horse. It would
sacrifice clean water, human health, environmental justice and the fate of
other endangered species across the Columbia River Basin in a cynical trade to
breach these four dams.
Under his proposal, Simpson would exempt all agriculture
from every requirement under the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act for
25 years. It would give a blanket extension to every other dam in the Basin for
35 years – effectively ending any real environmental accountability for the
operations of those dams. And it would funnel $35 billion mainly to special
interests in the region, rather than the tribes and other affected communities
that should be prioritized.
Simpson has made no effort to hide his goal to bolster big
agribusiness by gutting environmental laws and abolishing judicial review. He
did it when he delisted wolves in Idaho and Montana, and he wants to do it
again now. But his dam-removal proposal is far more egregious. If approved,
imperiled species across the region would lose critical protections under the
Endangered Species Act. Agribusiness will get a huge influx of taxpayer dollars
to increase activities that pollute our waters. At the same time, communities
across the Columbia River Basin would lose the protection of bedrock
environmental laws and would have no recourse when their water is polluted.
Two months after it was first proposed, Simpson’s proposal
remains the only one on the table. Decision-makers in Washington and Oregon
have said little publicly on the matter, but behind closed doors, it’s a
different story.
The four lower Snake River dams have got to go. And we
finally have a federal administration committed to modernizing our nation’s
infrastructure. We must invest in the communities that will be harmed by the
removal of the dams. But we don’t have to trade clean water and vibrant
wildlife populations throughout the Columbia River Basin in order for the dams
to come down. Shortsightedness got us into this mess, and it won’t get us out.
Simpson has capitalized on the political vacuum in
Washington and Oregon and offered the region its most anti-environmental trade
in modern history. The belief that there is no other way is a failure of imagination
and leadership.
It is time for Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, as
well as Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, to step up and chart a better
path forward. Simpson’s plan can’t be the only one up for consideration and
debate. We need a solution that promotes environmental justice, fully supports
the Tribes and preserves our core environmental laws for future generations.
Quinn Read is Oregon policy director at the Center for
Biological Diversity; Sophia Ressler is the Washington wildlife attorney at the
Center.
