Crosscut Now
Aug. 3, 2021 - Could hardening PNW power grid cause harm?
8/3/2021 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
How strengthening the PNW’s electrical grid could end up doing harm.
A proposal to lay cables beneath the Columbia River is met with skepticism from an Indigenous activist and the river’s advocates.
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Aug. 3, 2021 - Could hardening PNW power grid cause harm?
8/3/2021 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
A proposal to lay cables beneath the Columbia River is met with skepticism from an Indigenous activist and the river’s advocates.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(reverent orchestral music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.
Could strengthening the Pacific Northwest's electrical grid be good for the environment or would it end up causing harm?
InvestigateWest reports that a proposal to lay 100-mile-long cables beneath the Columbia River would bring clean power from Eastern Washington and Oregon's solar and wind farms to the energy-hungry west without building vulnerable transmission towers.
The Cascade Renewable Transmission developers argue that the cables would ween urban areas in the west off coal- and gas-fired power plants.
Skeptics of the plan include Native tribes, who must be consulted.
Previous energy developments along the Columbia have been disastrous for local tribes.
The 1957 completion of the Dalles Dam, for example, led to the submersion of Celilo Falls, which previously brought great wealth to tribes in abundant salmon, steelhead, and other fish.
Emotions from those historic insults remain fresh.
I'm Starla Sampaco.
Find the full InvestigateWest story on crosscut.com.
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