Dear Editor,
If the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement – which includes the removal of four hydroelectric generating dams on the Klamath River – does indeed come to pass, the entire region would come under the control of the Klamath Basin Coordinating Council and the Technical Advisory Team to coordinate implementation. The term of the agreement is for 50 years and can be extended by the parties to the agreement, and some water provisions would become permanent. This council is made up of representatives from the following: three federal agencies, one California agency, three Oregon agencies, four tribes, one Oregon county, two California counties, on-project irrigators and at least 10 nongovernmental organizations. This governance agreement will provide for new decision-making authorities or change existing state and federal laws.
The citizens of the region will not be able to vote for these council members; they will be appointed by the organization of which they represent. And upon the effective date of the agreement, the parties will initiate the interim governance council for the purpose of making recommendations to the federal agencies. The appropriate federal agency will immediately undertake the formal steps to obtain charters for the Klamath Basin Coordinating Council and necessary subgroups.
These charters will then govern the Klamath River Basin and local control will have been wrested from local government, the last voice of the people (the board of supervisors and/or commissioners):
1. There is no election provision of the governing bodies’ officers by the general population.
2. Who, other than the signatories, will have oversight authority over these councils that have given themselves a 50-year lifespan plus an opportunity for more?
AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE:
We, the public, have been told on numerous occasions
that dam removal would be a business decision made by PacifiCorp.
However, this business decision to be made by PacifiCorp means that we,
the rate payers, will be responsible for paying the cost of removing
these dams. The Agreement In Principle will require that the ratepayers
help offset the costs of replacement energy by an additional surcharge
on your power bill.
The parties agree to identify third-party funding and cost offset
options in the Final Agreement. These options may include: (1)
additional flows created by the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, (2)
third-party funding for the restoration replacement power, (3) earnings
on the surcharge trust, (4) generation during facility removal stage and
(5) and other options that can be identified and agreed upon by the
parties.
Is this the kind of government and loss of clean energy we want for our region?
I say “no” to this fraudulent takeover of the region by some special interest groups who have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Over 150 years of growth and prosperity would be destroyed and the region’s customs and culture will be lost forever.
Now is the time to say “no” to dam removal on the Klamath River.
Bend over and just take it !!!
I think it is Just that our supervisors here in Siskiyou County are now in the same boat as us farmers and ranchers who are being bullied, threatened and extorted.
At yesterdays Hydro Agreement (Dam Removal) Hearings, the supervisors once again showed their inability to confront the Dam Removal issues.
Some folks have pointed out that some of supervisors a quite intelligent. But lets not confuse intelligences with doing the right thing here.
How is it that these people are so incompetent? There are very clear legal issues to stand on and our county counsel has yet to even explore them.
Could this be about the money? Are we being set up to be sold out? Anyone who has followed the fiscal dealings of this county in just the last six months can recognize just how inept these supervisors are. Just follow the money.
I find it amazing that the feds call us teabaggrs terrorist. When it is they who are terrorizing us. Threatening us with direct prosecution for not giving up our constitutional rights and for not turning over our most valuable assets over to the government.
And if that is not enough keep bending over. Pacific Core who has made hundreds of millions of dollars off these dams wants us to pay for whatever is the outcome.
It is time that we the citizens of Siskiyou County start a recall of these supervisors and prepare a class action suit against the county.
If youre in favor of taking out the dam then you are in favor of back room deals, very bad science and giving up your constitutional rights.
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. --Thomas Jefferson
My family's been here a long time. I am the first to graduate college and embrace knowledge. Now I'm back and I'm disgusted.
This letter to the editor reads like some of the best conspiracy theory stuff I've every read.
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