Monday March 10, 2025
KEPR —
We’ve spoken to District 4 representative Dan Newhouse about some hot topics in the news: the trade war, the budget and potential cuts to essential benefits, and immigration. However, for a while, he’s been focused on the Snake River Dams and efforts to protect them.
In January, Representative Newhouse sent out a press release about the Northwest Energy Security Act, which would require the dams to remain operational. The bill has been introduced in the Senate, by Jim Risch of Idaho, in January and has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Newhouse told us the bill’s goal is to make sure it’s difficult to remove the dams, while also making sure if they’re replaced, it’s not done without taking the impacts of losing them into account.
“What also has to happen is a continuing education to my colleagues from around the country on how important the dams are. And that’s been improving,” said Rep. Newhouse. “Even in the state of Washington, if you look at polling, the dams are being held as much more important than they were just a few years ago. And so that gives me optimism that people are recognizing that as our population grows, which we’re predicted to grow by a million people over the next decade, we’re going to need more power, not less.”