Calls and Letters Needed Today and Tomorrow!
NEW Action Alert: Hydro Legislation in Senate
The Senate Energy Bill (S. 14) will probably see Senate floor action early this week. Please take advantage of this critical opportunity to contact your Senators. As reported by American Whitewater in April, the House Energy Bill contains a hydropower provision that radically changes for the worse the process for licensing private hydropower projects. The Senate version of the Energy Bill contains virtually the same language. Contact your Senator and encourage them to strike Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 under Title V: Renewable Energy. Ask your Senator to uphold existing standards for protecting rivers and the people and wildlife that depend on them. PLEASE ACT TODAY.
The current language in Sections 511 of the Energy Bill will make hydropower licensing slower, more expensive, and worse for the environment. On the House side, Representative Dingell (D-MI) proposed an amendment in April that would remove the energy bill’s ill-conceived hydro relicensing ramifications with straightforward process changes — a compromise struck last year between the environmental community and the hydro industry.
At a time when our leaders should be focused on meaningful energy reform, the hydroelectrtic licensing language in the Energy Bill is little more than an industry giveaway. The bill would give the industry priority above all other stakeholders – including states, Indian tribes, landowners and the public – and roll back environmental protections that have been in place for more than 80 years!
Worse, the language is ill-timed. The Bush Administration, through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has already begun a promising rule change to improve the hydropower licensing process. The hydroelectrtic licensing language in the Energy Bill would undercut collaborative efforts already being undertaken by people who know the licensing process.
The current version of the Hydropower Title in the Energy Bill was penned by the hydropower industry. Contact your Senator and encourage them to substitute the current language with Representative Dingell’s amendment.
Sample Letter:
The Honorable [Insert Full Name]
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator [Insert Last Name]:
Please oppose the existing hydropower section (Section 511) of the Energy Bill by voting in support of an environmental amendment offered by Senator Bingaman during full Senate consideration.
Section 511 of the Energy Bill is a significant departure from the 2001 compromise, struck between Chairman Tauzin and Congressman Dingell, and between the environmental community and the industry. In its current form, Section 511 of the Energy Bill will undermine basic environmental protections for our nation’s rivers and will only further complicate hydropower dam licensing. This new proposal does nothing to remedy problems with the licensing process, and in fact, undercuts the current collaborative process – the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is in the advanced stages of developing a rule that would make the necessary changes to the licensing process. Process reform is a worthy objective, but Section 511 will have environmentally harmful consequences and won’t fix anything.
Instead of reforming the licensing process, the hydropower title adds red tape and unwarranted subsidies while eroding environmental protections. Specifically, it:
§ Requires four new processes and adds at least two years to the licensing process. This is not streamlining.
§ Places the voice of electric utilities above any other interest in the licensing process. Local landowners, businesses, irrigators, navigation interests, states, tribes, and environmentalists all have an interest in conditions affecting public lands and fish passage, and should have just as much right to petition federal agencies about them as dam owners.
§ Requires agencies to consider the private economic interests of a dam owner on an equal footing with public resources, and would prevent agencies from requiring licensees to move fish past their hydropower dams.
I urge you to oppose the hydropower section of the Energy Bill, to vote to support the environmental amendment sponsored by Senator Bingaman, and to allow FERC’s current collaborative process to move forward without legislative interference.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Sincerely
[Insert Your name]
[Insert Your address]
Tips for Telephone Calls
Telephone calls are often taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue to which you wish to comment.
After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: Please tell Senator [Name] that I oppose Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2003, S 14. I encourage you to strike sections 511 and 33.
You will also want to state reasons for your opposition to the bill and recommendations. Ask for your Senator’s position on the bill. You may also request a written response to your telephone call.