Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) launched the next assertion after the Biden Administration launched a memorandum outlining its plan for fish mitigation within the Columbia River Basin:
“The direction from President Biden proves that his Administration and dam-breaching advocates will continue to pretend to hear feedback from the community to give the perception that residents and stakeholders are being heard. The sad truth is, this has not been a collaborative process all along and they are only seeking to accomplish one predetermined outcome: a breach of the Four Lower Snake River Dams,” mentioned Rep. Newhouse.
Rep. Newhouse continued: “While there may not be explicit recommendations to breach the Lower Snake River Dams in this memorandum, that is the goal of this Administration. This announcement is bureaucracy at its worst and the fact remains that these dams are vital to our economy, our efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and the ability to send our commodities overseas. The Columbia River Basin is one of our most valuable natural resources in the Pacific Northwest and I will continue to fight each and every day against this Administration’s efforts to breach these vital dams.”
Background:
On Wednesday, September 27th, the Biden Administration launched a memorandum titled “Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead, and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin,” outlining its plan for fish mitigation within the Columbia River Basin.
A keep in long-running litigation over the Snake River Dams has been prolonged for 60 days from August thirty first to October thirty first to permit federal mediation to proceed, however key stakeholders and neighborhood members straight impacted by the litigation are being left at nighttime as negotiations happen behind closed doorways.
The Biden Administration and dam-breaching advocates are intent on reaching a “de facto” breach of the Four Lower Snake River Dams by opening the gates to cut back the water under the minimal working ranges for hydroelectric era.
Rep. Newhouse has been main the efforts to guard the Four Lower Snake River Dams:
- This month, in a House Committee on Natural Resources listening to analyzing the systematic overreach from the Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), he addressed the shortage of transparency and public enter all through the mediation strategy of the Four Lower Snake River Dams.
- On September 13, 2023, Rep. Newhouse despatched a letter to CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory alongside House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Chair Cliff Bentz (R-OR) and Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) expressed their considerations with the mediation course of.
- In June, Rep. Newhouse and the House Committee on Natural Resources hosted a area listening to in Richland, WA to debate the significance the 4 Lower Snake River Dams need to Central Washington and the Pacific Northwest.
- This Congress, Rep. Newhouse launched the Northwest Energy Security Act to guard the Four Lower Snake River Dams. The laws helps the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) and the numerous advantages it brings to our area by bettering and sustaining hydropower property, making certain operations all through the system are performed in accordance with the latest federal scientific overview, and persevering with to permit native salmon to recuperate at report charges.
- In September 2020, the “Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision” for the Columbia River System Operation Environmental Impact Statement (CRSO EIS) revealed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration, discovered that the Lower Snake River Dams shouldn’t be breached. Rather, efforts ought to be centered on bettering and sustaining hydropower property whereas working to enhance salmon passage and situations.
- On October 15, 2021, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray introduced plans to evaluate the breaching of the Lower Snake River Dams.
- On October 21, 2021, the Department of Justice introduced a settlement reached between the CRSO EIS plaintiffs and federal companies on injunctive aid, together with a keep on the CRSO EIS litigation till July 2022.
- On October 22, 2021, Governor Inslee and Senator Murray introduced the following steps to ship a report supposed to justify breaching the Lower Snake River Dams by July 2022. Reps. Newhouse, McMorris Rodgers, and Jaime Herrera Beutler launched a joint assertion reacting to the announcement.
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