Klamath Riverkeeper’s letter in the 7/21 edition portrays
PacifiCorp (owner/operator of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project) as an example
of “multinational corporations perpetrating underpublicized acts of
environmental injustice against rural communities.” Wow! Maybe so; but I am struck by the fact that
this is precisely the way many “rural communities” portray Klamath Riverkeeper
and other “environmental terrorist (sic) organizations.”
Klamath Riverkeeper and the Karuk Tribe have been promoting
the demonization of PacifiCorp as part of their efforts to get four of the
company’s five Klamath Dams removed. I’m also in favor of dam removal but I question
whether promoting “war” is really necessary to achieve our objective. In fact, Klamath
Riverkeeper’s assertion that PacifiCorp “obstinately refuses to discuss dam
removal” flies in the face of the fact that PacifiCorp was at the time the
letter was written and is now engaged in negotiations about the very dam
removal that Klamath Riverkeeper seeks.
And that is not the only questionable assertion in their letter.
Klamath Riverkeeper asserts that “PacifiCorp’s reservoirs
are breeding late-summer blooms of toxic algae…” While this is also true, the organization
fails to point out that the water is already very dirty when it enters those
reservoirs – the result of agricultural pollution in the Upper
Klamath Basin
and a naturally high nutrient load. Could it be that this fact was omitted
because Klamath Riverkeeper wants to promote the idea that “irrigators, tribes
and willing environmentalists have made great strides toward ‘peace’?” And why
is it that Klamath Riverkeeper is not also calling for removal of the fifth PacifiCorp dam
– which creates a reservoir wherein fish kills – including kills of endangered
fish – occur almost every year?
As a person who has lived and worked in the Klamath
River Basin since 1975 I find it
deeply saddening that certain environmental organizations and tribes have found
it necessary to bend the truth to the breaking point in pursuit of their
objectives. The Karuk elders who inspired me to become a forest and river advocate would not, I believe, approve. It was those
elders who taught me what I now call the “Politics of Truth” and what others
have called “Speaking Truth to Power”. These elders modeled a non-violent
approach to struggle which rejected the idea of treating the adversary as “enemy”.
While I have not always lived up to their example, I have always striven to act
in accordance with it.
The abandonment of “Speaking Truth to Power” by some
environmental and tribal leaders on the Klamath gives me great sadness. I can’t
help but believe that it is both unnecessary and that it ultimately damages and delays the
very objectives which these folks claim to champion, that is, social, economic
and environmental justice.
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