Jul 26, 2024
Press
McMorris Rodgers on Eastern Washington’s Dams: “one of the most efficient, eco-friendly methods of cargo transportation”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) joined for an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing titled, “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions for Planes, Trains and Everything Beyond Automobiles.” At the hearing, she talked about how Eastern Washington’s dams, in spite of Governor Jay Inslee’s attempts to jeopardize them, provide an eco-friendly and low-emissions form of transportation for our region. You can see her remarks here:
As Cathy said, “As we look to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, it’s important we pursue policies that reduce transportation related emissions that are realistic, technology-neutral, and make economic sense. Government mandates… whether at the federal, state, or local level, can often have drastic unintended consequences.
“In Washington state right now, some politicians and special interests, for example, are threatening to breach the four lower Snake River dams… Governor Inslee is currently spending almost one million dollars of taxpayer money to justify doing this…Many farmers and other businesses in Eastern Washington rely on barging on the Snake River and on the Columbia River to ship their products West to the ports. Barging is one of the most efficient, eco-friendly methods of cargo transportation.
“If the dams were breached, farmers would have to look to other shipping methods… It would have taken, in 2017 alone, it would have taken 135,000 additional semi-trucks to move the cargo shipped on the Snake River. This would drastically increase emissions in Washington State, not to mention the additional congestion that we already face…”
She continued, “Instead of wasting taxpayer money on an expensive effort to increase carbon emissions and decrease clean energy production, we should encourage the development of new technologies and efficiencies that decrease emissions in the transportation sector.”
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