On Aug. 7, by a 2-0 vote, Clallam County Public Utility District commissioners voted to endorse House Resolution 3144, an anti-environment, anti-salmon piece of legislation now before the Congress.
HR 3144 attempts to essentially overturn two federal court decisions, override or effectively suspend key provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and prejudicially limit the scope of environmental analysis of options for operation of the federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers as they impact endangered salmon.
But Commissioners Ted Simpson and Will Purser rubber-stamped a resolution drafted by lobbyists from the Public Power Council while Commissioner Hugh Haffner — who had raised concerns about the issue when the resolution came up at the PUD’s July 31 meeting — was out of town.
Clallam County residents who care about a fair public process, free of political interference, and who are concerned about the impact of declining salmon runs on our local salmon-dependent orcas should share their concerns with these misguided PUD commissioners.
Marc Sullivan,
Sequim