Dams on the Snake River are killing salmon and, ultimately, orcas. Don’t stop removal | Opinion

Dams are killing salmon and orcas

Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho and Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington have recently introduced in Congress the Northwest Energy Security Act. This bill is a reaction to recent discussions about breaching the four dams on the lower Snake River. Should this bill become law, it would block any future efforts to remove those dams. It would also doom to extinction several salmon runs in the Columbia/Snake River system and the southern resident orcas of the Salish Sea.

Risch and Newhouse extol the supposed economic and power benefits of the dams while ignoring completely their enormous ecological damage. The stagnant ponds behind the dams kill salmon, while the orcas are starving and unable to reproduce consistently. Witness Telequah’s carrying her second dead calf around the Sound. Risch and Newhouse also ignore sensible, scientifically-based alternatives to the current irrigation and transportation systems, and that the only functioning hydropower dam produces at most 4% of the Northwest’s energy needs. Four percent! Are we really willing to exterminate two icons of the Pacific Northwest when reasonable alternatives to such willful destruction are readily available?

If you care about rivers, salmon and orcas, please urge your representatives to oppose this immensely dangerous legislation.

Michael Shurgot, Seattle

Stand up for the Constitution

As a retired teacher, I have taught in secondary school students about the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. I take my civic duty to stay informed seriously by voting and studying a variety of news sources daily. The current president is violating the Constitution and ignoring the rule of law.

A favorite topic in teaching U.S. history was the Marshall Plan. This plan meant the United States played a crucial role in post-war recovery. As a result, we gained allies to help us fight injustice in the rest of the world. We have come to the aid of countries in need with medicines, food and other important supplies. We are blessed with bounty. Our citizens have traditionally shown compassion to the global community. That compassion is absent in the current executive branch as evident by cuts to USAID and the way the president of Ukraine was treated in a press conference.

Sens. Murry and Cantwell and representatives from Washington state — stand with courageous members of Congress across party lines in objecting to the way the president is trampling the Constitution and taking power away from Congress. Restore humanitarian aid to foreign countries. Support a democratic Ukraine.

Kathleen Wolfley, Vancouver

Rare diseases deserve attention

I traveled to Washington D.C. this week to attend Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill. Rare Disease Day is February 28. My son Ty had a rare neurodegenerative disease and passed away in 2017. During rare disease week, we meet with our congressional representatives to ask for support for legislation that will help rare disease patients. I was able to meet with the offices of Marilyn Strickland, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. However, the two-day meeting with leaders from the FDA/NIH was postponed indefinitely one week before it was scheduled to happen. This meeting is important to the rare disease community. We learn about the latest research on rare diseases from the NIH and the FDA was going to give us more information about the newly created rare disease hub at the FDA. Rare disease patients do not have time to spare. Postponing this meeting was unnecessary and cruel to the rare disease community. These meetings need to happen on time. This is just wrong.

Karen Quandt, Edgewood