In Northern California the removal of four hydroelectric facilities on the Klamath River is being pushed by Governor Newsom, this is the largest dam removal project in the World. During a time of drought and increasing difficulty in keeping up with electricity requirements, does this make any sense?? Especially as the local population of several counties in California and including some in Oregon are against this removal at 80% of the voting public. Removal of these clean carbon emission blue water facilities producing electricity 24/7 results not only in reducing low cost available electricity, but removes recreational resources, lakeside settings for parks, important firefighting water availability, fish and aquatic lifeforms, numerous endangered species, AND court mandated flushing of the Klamath River to improve naturally occurring algae issues for anadromous Salmon habitat. The area above the hydro reservoirs does not provide Salmon habitat.
Mr. Intiso has filed a Taxpayer Lawsuit in Pro Per to fight the government overreach by Newsom and his associates. The funding mechanism for destroying these facilities was secretly included in a Bond Issue in California where the truth was kept from the voting public. The Bond Issue, which never mentions the secret project to remove the hydro facilities, was concealed from the public by being included in a Bond issue cast as a Clean Water and Storage facility effort. In fact, the bureaucrats intended on spending $250 million dollars of taxpayer money and another $200 million dollars to remove these productive clean electrical generating facilities which have been in place some for over a hundred years. In addition the California Governor, in order to facilitate a project which is not supported by Congress nor by the local area, agreed to become a guarantor and co licensee to the project in order to obtain approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) which was not going to approve the project unless California stepped in and put the State’s Treasury on the line – that’s you, the taxpayer.
This Bond Issue specifically stated that no funding was to be spent from the Bond Issue if it adversely impacted a “Wild and Scenic River”. The environmental statements filed by the FERC clearly state, in numerous places, that the removal of the hydro facilities will adversely impact the “Wild and Scenic River” and the only solution provided is that “time will take care of the problems”. The only estimate we have as to time is a statement by the former Secretary of the Department of Interior, Mr. Salazar, who stated in a presentation to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, that it might be 2060 before we would know if the “project” was successful.
Mr. Instiso believes that this is an outrageous and illegal use of taxpayer dollars to support the removal of these valuable facilities providing low cost power to the Northern California region and its industries. A lawsuit is an expensive process and this funding effort, which we are asking you to support, is geared to prevent such a travesty from taking place.
PLEASE JOIN US BY SUPPORING THIS GRASS ROOTS EFFORT AND DONATE TO THIS WORTH CAUSE.