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Methow Valley News February 21, 2001 Endangered Species Publisher's Comment~ by Lee Hicks Time for powerful leadership With the regional snowpack at decades-low levels, the thirsty reservoirs and rivers that fuel power-producing dams are becoming lower by the day. The governor is talking about declaring a water emergency. Electric bills are rising for consumers and businesses. On top of all this, there is the potential impact on salmon recovery from lower streamflows—and federal and state action to protect them. The Methow has already felt the squeeze in the past two summers, but the screws could be turned even tighter. At the very least the Northwest and the entire country need a better-focused, coordinated and integrated power policy that addresses conservation, generation, transmission, pricing and marketing. Otherwise, California could become the model for "rolling" electrical and economic blackouts elsewhere. Alternative, supplemental power sources such as the wind farm underway on the Washington-Oregon border are important to a long-term policy, as are solar and biomass systems. Some of these technologies flourished in the 1970s and ’80s as tax-advantaged investments, often with little economic rationale and only nominal power production. Now some of these deserve better consideration for supplemental roles in regional and national energy policy. In the short-term, voluntary conservation is the simplest first step to address immediate power shortages and set the stage for more innovative long-term policy. It begins in the home with easy measures such as turning off some lights and adjusting the thermostat downward—then progresses to better insulation and more energy-efficient new building methods. Recent statistics from power companies throughout the Northwest indicate that business and consumer electrical users conserved electricity by as much as 6 percent in parts of December and January as news of the crunch was widespread. Much of this came from reduced consumption in peak load periods. But consumers are jaded by power industry habits of switching conservation programs on and off to meet temporary crises. They must be convinced that conservation is part of a larger public and private vision. The recent public response shows awareness of the problem. The task now is to keep consumers engaged in the issues and to provide incentives for power producers as well as marketers. In the end, changing behavior in the private sector won’t get too far without better government leadership to prevent replication of disastrous experiments such as that in California. Opinion | Sports |
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