The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation is on record, having written that the dams “produce a significant amount of affordable and environmentally friendly hydroelectric power to the region” while allowing farmers to “export their product to the world.” Additionally, the Idaho Legislature passed a resolution in 2021, stating it “supports the international competitiveness, multi-modal transportation, and economic development benefits provided by the Port of Lewiston and the Columbia-Snake River System.”
But Scott Corbitt, General Manager of the Port of Lewiston, perhaps demonstrates the importance of the dams to best.
“The culture, business, and lifestyle of Lewiston revolve around the Clearwater and Snake rivers and the slack water, or pool created by the Lower Snake River Dams,” Corbitt testified. “That Pool has developed opportunities for the Lewis Clark Valley that now serve as the lifeblood and supports an economy for around 65,000 people.”
During a congressional field hearing last month, the Environmental Director for the Washington Policy Center, Todd Myers, summarized the severe damage that would result from eliminating the dams: “Spending $35 billion – or more — to destroy the four Lower Snake River dams would be counterproductive, not just for the climate, energy reliability, and the economy, but for salmon by misallocating resources that could do so much good across the region.”
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