Tear out the four dams on the Lower Snake River? The clearest and most succinct case for doing it (that I’ve ever read, anyway) can be found as a guest op-ed in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The federal government is proposing to spend $6 billion to implement its new salmon plan, even though the plan doesn’t even pretend to actually recover the Snake’s wild salmon stocks, all of which are listed as endangered species. Jim Bradford and Rob Masonis have a better idea:
It makes more sense to spend a portion of this $6 billion on measures that will let the inland Northwest reach its fullest potential. Instead of spending this money to save dams, why not invest it in people, agriculture, clean energy and improved rail transportation? Why not use this money in a way that revitalizes local businesses, and also restores the lower Snake River and its salmon?
That’s the crux, but it’s better to just read the article yourself. (And kudos to Bradford and Masonis on an exceptionally well-written piece.)
