This editorial will appear in tomorrow’s print edition. Given
the specter of climate change, 1,000 megawatts of carbon-neutral
power – enough to power all of Seattle – are a precious
commodity. Somehow, that fact seems lost on the people who
remain bent on breaching the four hydroelectric dams on the
Lower Snake River. Once again, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-
Seattle, has offered Congress a bill designed to expedite the
effective dismantling of those dams, which do in fact routinely
generate 1,000 megawatts and can more than triple that to meet
spikes in demand. McDermott wants to empower the Army secretary
to remove the earthen portions of the dam to give salmon easier
passage up and down the river. Congress already has the power to
breach the dams or tear them out entirely; this bill is a ploy
to yank that decision from the democratic process. To their
credit, neither of Washington’s U.S. senators, Maria Cantwell
and Patty Murray, supports the measure. Neither does Norm Dicks,
D-Belfair, the state’s 800-poun