Please Sign This Petition to STOP a New Dam

[FlyinFish]

All, please, please sign this petition. You don't need to be in WA to sign.

http://www.change.org/petitions/snohomi ... ro-project

The last thing WA needs is a new dam. We're just slowly getting rid of the Elwha (fantastic story, look it up). Yes, this is much smaller and not as bad, but, we've got tons of hydro-electric as it is. We don't need this.

Sorry for posting on the general board, but figured it would get the most visibility here.

[Artin]

Done!

I also emailed the link to my friends....

thanks for the heads up Arv!

Artin

[BBH]

Done! Thanks for the heads up and opportunity to contribute!

Tom

[garypullings]

Maybe I am on the fence about this. Here is why. When I see some one say we don't need another * because we have all the power we need. I don't buy it.

If that was the case lets look at the situation in the US where we are running out of power in places. California is already starting brown outs in area's. I went through a 3 hour brown out the other day.

We now know what is required for fish to survive etc. We can build these dams now with this in mind and it is our responsibility to make sure this happens. Until we get off of oil as a power source we will always require more power and hydro electric is very renewable we just have to do it smart.

[Papasequoia]

CA gets very little of its energy for electricity from oil and for that matter a relatively small amount from hydro power. These statistics are from the CA energy commission for 2010 (most recent numbers).

Electricity (2010)
In-State Generation
Source
Natural Gas 53.4%
Nuclear 15.7%
Large Hydro 14.6%
Coal 1.7%
Renewable 14.6%

The amount that is from oil comes from these sources:

Crude Oil (2011)
Source
In State 38.22%
Alaska 11.84%
Foreign 49.94%

WA, by comparison, gets almost 3/4 of its energy from hydro. One has to wonder when enough is enough when it comes to damming rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

As for CA's brownouts, especially the ones we became famous for some years back, I would highly, highly recommend the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. The rolling blackouts we experienced back then had absolutely nothing to do with energy supply, as we found out too late.

This is from the petition page about why it is a bad idea:

To: Snohomish County Public Utility Commissioners Kathleen Vaughn, Toni Olson and David Aldrich

Help send a clear message to Washington State officials: Save the Skykomish River!

Despite widespread opposition, a Washington State power company SnoPUD has proposed building a new dam and power plant on the protected Skykomish River. This environmental catastrophe would dewater over a mile of river, including two pristine waterfalls, Canyon Falls and Sunset Falls.

SnoPUD’s proposed dam is a $150 million boondoggle that would produce minimal energy – less than 1% of their energy portfolio - while posing serious risks to our environment, threatened species, recreation opportunities, and quality of life.

At present, taxpayers are spending $324.7 MILLION to remove two Washington State dams on the Elwha River.

This targeted area, the South Fork of the Skykomish River, is one of only four Scenic Rivers designated for protection by the Washington State Legislature. In addition, this area has also been nominated to Congress for Federal Protection by the U.S Forest Service for its Outstanding Remarkable Values, which would be destroyed by this project.

Sunset Falls is in a Northwest Power and Conservation Council Protected Area from hydropower development because “such development would have major negative impacts that could not be reversed.”

The Skykomish River is home to ESA theatened Chinook (King) salmon and bull trout, river otters, wild salmon, steelhead and other fish and wildlife, aquatic birds, raptors, and amphibians. The Skykomish River is one of the few remaining rivers in Washington State without a dam!

SnoPUD would have to condemn the longtime homes of residents and force them off their land, offering a fraction of what their property is worth to go through with their reckless plans. Please urge them to stop.

[FlyinFish]

Papa, stop trying to use logic, you'll just confuse people...

You don't need to buy it, cause I ain't sellin' it. It's a fact. WA state has plenty of electricity, and most of it is already very clean. We have enough that we sell it off to other states.

The other thing is, we have the entire east side of the state that is PRIME for wind turbines or nuclear plants. Why not focus our efforts there?

Again, this dam will be very small and provide very little power. It's just not even worth it and not needed.