Chief
04-10-2007, 02:07 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1176175533181450.xml&coll=7
Columbia Basin - The 9th Circuit belittles the Bush administration's salmon plan, keeping dam removal in play
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
A top federal court Monday slapped down the Bush administration's attempt to get out of doing more for imperiled Columbia River salmon, accusing the government of "analytical sleight of hand" in claiming to help salmon when it really isn't.
The three judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came as close as sitting judges do to legally ridiculing the U.S. government's claims, among them defending dam operations that essentially counted dead fish as if they were alive.
While the judges didn't say it, their ruling holds open the chance that hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River could be torn out to help salmon despite President Bush's 2003 promise they would remain standing.
The case carries high stakes for the future of protected salmon and the complex of Northwest hydroelectric dams that keep the region's power rates low and let ships navigate the river. The stakes may go higher yet as global warming shrinks river flows and raises temperatures toward the danger zone for salmon -- while making hydroelectric power more sought-after because it does not generate greenhouse gases like burning fossil fuel.
But Monday's appeals court ruling carries a very blunt message for the administration: The game is up. Get with the program on salmon, and do it now.
The federal government went to the appeals court with a much different goal in mind. It was contesting the rulings of U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland, who is getting increasingly tough with federal agencies responsible for protecting salmon.
Redden has demanded that they come up with a better way to remedy the damage that hydroelectric dams do to fish. Dam turbines, for instance, chew up young salmon migrating toward the ocean.
**SCHNIPP**
This is another issue that is just absolutely and almost hopelessy mired in Environmental Politics. The talk goes on, the money keeps being spent, and ultimately nothing happens.
Columbia Basin - The 9th Circuit belittles the Bush administration's salmon plan, keeping dam removal in play
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
A top federal court Monday slapped down the Bush administration's attempt to get out of doing more for imperiled Columbia River salmon, accusing the government of "analytical sleight of hand" in claiming to help salmon when it really isn't.
The three judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco came as close as sitting judges do to legally ridiculing the U.S. government's claims, among them defending dam operations that essentially counted dead fish as if they were alive.
While the judges didn't say it, their ruling holds open the chance that hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River could be torn out to help salmon despite President Bush's 2003 promise they would remain standing.
The case carries high stakes for the future of protected salmon and the complex of Northwest hydroelectric dams that keep the region's power rates low and let ships navigate the river. The stakes may go higher yet as global warming shrinks river flows and raises temperatures toward the danger zone for salmon -- while making hydroelectric power more sought-after because it does not generate greenhouse gases like burning fossil fuel.
But Monday's appeals court ruling carries a very blunt message for the administration: The game is up. Get with the program on salmon, and do it now.
The federal government went to the appeals court with a much different goal in mind. It was contesting the rulings of U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland, who is getting increasingly tough with federal agencies responsible for protecting salmon.
Redden has demanded that they come up with a better way to remedy the damage that hydroelectric dams do to fish. Dam turbines, for instance, chew up young salmon migrating toward the ocean.
**SCHNIPP**
This is another issue that is just absolutely and almost hopelessy mired in Environmental Politics. The talk goes on, the money keeps being spent, and ultimately nothing happens.