Nov. 14, 2025
By Peter DeFazio and Norm Dicks
Special to The Seattle Times
When President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Bonneville Dam in 1937, he called it a “yardstick for the future” — a promise that the Pacific Northwest could generate clean, affordable power for all. Nearly nine decades later, that promise endures. Hydropower remains the beating heart of our region’s clean energy system, providing reliable, carbon-free electricity to millions of homes and businesses.
It’s a legacy rooted in bipartisan support. Presidents, governors, and leaders of both parties have long recognized that hydropower is essential to the Northwest’s prosperity and remains the foundation of state climate policies. During our time in Congress, we were part of a bipartisan coalition strongly committed to policies and public investment to protect and grow our cherished salmon populations while supporting hydropower.
Today, we face a challenge that demands the same spirit of collaboration and balance: how to ensure salmon and a strong hydropower system can share healthy rivers. That challenge should be met through thoughtful, inclusive dialogue that brings our region together.
We’re making progress. Billions of dollars of electric customer investments in science-driven habitat restoration and fish passage, and partnership with federal, state and tribal governments are leading to meaningful results for fish, clean energy and communities. Salmon and steelhead returns are increasing. We need to continue to learn and build on our successes.
As former members of Congress representing Washington and Oregon, we’ve seen firsthand that lasting solutions emerge when states, tribes, farmers, utilities and conservationists work together. Yet despite clear progress, the conversation around salmon recovery has too often turned to litigation or decision-making behind closed doors rather than collaboration.
Having spent decades working in Pacific Northwest politics and policy, we know that fighting is sometimes the only option. Now is not that time.
As we confront the challenges of climate change and the energy transition required to address it, fractured decision-making wastes time, erodes trust and jeopardizes the future of this vital system that millions of people depend on every day.
Instead of channeling energy into lawsuits, we’re calling on Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and other leaders to channel their energies into pragmatic partnership rooted in science and progressive values.
Hydropower is a cornerstone of the Northwest’s clean energy future. As our states strive to meet ambitious climate goals while serving dramatically increasing electric usage, we cannot afford to sideline the single largest source of renewable energy in our region. At the same time, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to healthy salmon runs — vital to tribal cultures, commercial and recreational fisheries and the ecological fabric of the Pacific Northwest.
Fortunately, this is not a zero-sum choice. Modern technologies and collaborative management are proving that we can support both fish populations and reliable, affordable hydropower. State-of-the-art fish passage technologies, science-driven hatchery programs and habitat restoration projects are yielding measurable results. We have more work to do together. Continued innovation and cooperation, not conflict, will drive the next chapter of progress.
We urge the governors of Washington and Oregon to lead together in that spirit, set aside costly litigation and instead convene an inclusive forum for science-based public policy and innovative solutions that address today’s realities. This governance will build on decades of progress, help mitigate rising electricity costs and ensure the Columbia Basin remains a vital, connected landscape for all who depend on it.
Northwest families, workers and communities want leaders who can protect salmon and keep energy affordable. Endless litigation does neither. This moment calls for courage — the courage to unite rather than divide and to act not out of ideology but out of responsibility to future generations.
President Roosevelt envisioned a public power system that would empower the people of the Northwest for decades to come. Today, that vision depends on leaders willing to honor both the power of the river and the life within it. The salmon and the people of our region deserve nothing less.
Peter DeFazio: a Democrat, represented Oregon’s 4th
Congressional District from 1987 to 2023.
Norm Dicks: a Democrat, represented Washington's 6th
Congressional District from 1977 to 2013.
