Instead of using fossil fuels, we are told to use “clean” energy: wind, solar or hydroelectricity. [emphasis, links added]
Hydropower is the most reliable. Unlike wind and sunlight, it flows steadily.
But now, environmental groups want to destroy hydroelectric dams.
“Destroy these dams,” one activist shouts in my new video. “Now is the time, our fish are on the line!”
Activists are targeting four dams on Washington state's Snake River. They claim dams are causing salmon extinction.
Indeed, dams once killed large numbers of salmon. Pregnant fish need to swim upstream to give birth to their babies, while their babies swim downstream to the ocean.
Suddenly, a dam blocked the road.
Salmon populations have plummeted.
But that was the 1970s.
Today, most salmon pass through dams without incident.
how?
Fish conservation innovations, e.g. Fish ladders and spillways guide most salmon away from turbines Generate electricity.
“Ninety-six to 98 percent of the salmon successfully passed each dam,” said Todd Myers, environmental director at the Washington Policy Center.
Even federal science agencies now say we can skip the dams and the fish won't be affected.
But environmental groups won't raise money by acknowledging this OK information.
Earthjustice’s headline is “Snake River salmon in crisis.”
The gullible media fell for it.
The Snake River is “the most endangered river in the country!” the evening news anchor claimed.
“That's simply not true,” Miles explained. “All you have to do is look at the actual population numbers to know it's ridiculous.”
Extremely ridiculous. In recent years, salmon populations have been greater than in the 1980s and 1990s.
“They make these claims,” Myers said, “because they know people will believe them… They don’t want to believe that their favorite environmental group is dishonest.“
But many are.
In 1999, environmental groups purchased an ad in the New York Times that read, “Salmon…will become extinct by 2017.”
“Have the environmentalists apologized?” I asked Meyers.
“No,” he said. “They repeated almost the exact same arguments today, just changed the date.”
I invited 10 activist groups who wanted to destroy the dams to my studio to defend their claims of salmon extinction. No one agrees.
I understand why. They have convinced the public and gullible politicians.
“There is no feasible way for us to keep the dam in place,” said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.
“We keep doing stupid things,” Myers said. “We put money into places that have no environmental impact, and then we wonder why in 10, 20, 30 years (later) we haven't made any progress on the environment.”
Politicians and activists want the Snake River dams removed, even though they generate large amounts of electricity.
“Almost the same number of wind and solar turbines as there are in Washington state,” Myers said. “Imagine if I told the environmental community that we need to take down every wind turbine and every solar panel. They would lose their minds. But this That's essentially what they're advocating for by removing the Snake River dam.
I retorted, “They say, 'Just build more wind turbines.'”
“The thing is, there are times a year when there's no wind,” he answered. “You can build ten times as many wind turbines, but if there's no wind, there's no power.”
Hydro, on the other hand, “can be turned on and off when needed. It makes absolutely no sense to destroy water power and replace it with wind power. It will cause severe damage to our grid.“
“It's not their money,” I pointed out.
“Exactly,” he said. “If you want to spend $35 billion on salmon, [are] There are many things we can do to make a real impact.
Like what?
“(Reduce) seal and sea lion populations,” he said, “and the Washington Academy of Sciences says we're not going to be able to recover salmon unless we reduce populations.”
“People used to hunt sea lions,” I pointed out.
“Yes, that's why there are more people today.”
But conservationists don't want people to hunt sea lions or seals. Instead, they pushed to destroy the dams.
“Because it's sexy and eye-catching, it sells well,” Myers said. “It's more about feeling good than environmental results.”
Read more at City Hall
