Trump energy orders could play role in salmon and steelhead debate

President Trump issued dozens of executive orders shortly after he was sworn in Monday, including two that have the potential to play a role in the effort to recover salmon and steelhead from the Snake and Columbia rivers.

But whether the orders lead to real change for energy development more broadly or on the Snake and Columbia Rivers specifically remains to be seen.

Neither the Declaring a National Emergency nor the Unleashing American Energy orders mentions salmon or steelhead but they include hydropower and the “kinetic movement of flowing water” among the nation’s important energy resources. They don’t include wind or solar in that portfolio and another order temporarily halted federal permitting of wind farms.

Together the two orders call on federal agencies to look for ways to identify undue burdens on energy development and to use emergency powers, possibly including eminent domain and authorities under the Defense Production Act, to increase domestic energy production.

“The integrity and expansion of our Nation’s energy infrastructure — from coast to coast — is an immediate and pressing priority for the protection of the United States’ national and economic security,” Trump wrote. “It is imperative that the Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of the American people first.”

Most proactively, the order declaring an energy emergency directs the Endangered Species Committee, composed of several members of the president’s cabinet, to meet at least once a quarter to consider applications submitted by federal agencies or governors. If requested, the committee, known colloquially as the God Squad, has the power to exempt federal actions from the ESA even if it leads to extinction.

If there are no applications to consider, the order directs the committee to “identify obstacles to domestic energy infrastructure specifically deriving from implementation of the ESA or the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to include regulatory reform efforts, species listings, and other related matters with the aim of developing procedural, regulatory, and interagency improvements.”

The effort to recover Snake River salmon and steelhead and nine other ESA protected salmon species in the Columbia River basin constrains the production of hydropower at eight dams between Lewiston and Portland, Ore. — mainly from court-ordered spill at the dams that helps juvenile fish pass them more efficiently and safely during their migration to the Pacific Ocean.

In 2016, the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association asked the incoming Trump Administration to invoke the God Squad. The irrigators wanted the committee to adopt the discredited 2014 plan that aimed to reconcile dam operations with the needs of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. The plan had recently been overturned by a federal judge as inadequate and the government was working on a new plan that would not be finished until the waning days of Trump’s first term.

That 2020 plan was challenged by the Nez Perce Tribe, Oregon and environmental groups who favor breaching the four lower Snake River Dams, which would boost fish survival but eliminate hydropower and tug-and-barge transportation between Lewiston and the Tri-Cities in Washington. They eventually reached a settlement agreement with the Biden administration that pauses the lawsuit for at least five years.

Darryl Olsen, board representative of the Irrigators Association, said he doesn’t see the God Squad as a viable solution and doesn’t think Trump will either.

“Why should he do anything, everything is in a very static state right now, nothing is going to move at least until he is gone (out of office) and what does he get out of trying to reward or help Washington and Oregon,” he said. “And he has (Rep.) Dan Newhouse in Washington. He probably loathes Newhouse. There is just nothing in it for him.”

Newhouse is the only House Republican to vote to impeach Trump who still holds office.

Two environmental attorneys said the 2020 plan that governs hydropower production and protections for fish isn’t ripe for the God Squad. Miles Johnson of Columbia Riverkeeper said for the Endangered Species Act Committee to come into play, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would first have to say the dams put fish in jeopardy of extinction and there are no measures, like spilling water and improving habitat, that can mitigate the jeopardy.

“Instead of doing that, the feds have said ‘we don’t have a problem here, everything is fine’ and have refused to produce a jeopardy biological opinion for 30 years despite evidence to the contrary.”

Amanda Goodin of EarthJustice, a law firm that represented environmental groups in the litigation, noted the orders don’t direct agencies to maximize energy production at the expense of all else.

“Eliminating spill would obviously be devastating for salmon populations and really untenable. I would hope this administration would see the value in not just promoting energy but also rebuilding healthy and abundant salmon that benefits people across the region,” she said.

While the God Squad might not be in play, two Republican members of Congress from Idaho and Washington reintroduced legislation that could declare the government’s disputed 2020 salmon-and-dams plan as adequate. That is the plan that led to the settlement now in place. Sen. Jim Risch, of Idaho, and Rep. Newhouse, of Washington, will again pursue their Northwest Energy Security Act. The bill, which would effectively take dam breaching off the table, did not advance in the last Congress.

“The lower Snake River dams are indispensable to the northwest, and efforts to breach them are profoundly misguided. These dams provide reliable, clean hydropower while supporting critical transportation, agriculture, and irrigation that sustains our region,” said Risch in a news release. “My Northwest Energy Security Act protects our region’s federal dams so that they continue to power Idaho’s homes and economy for generations.”

Representatives from the power industry said they are pleased that hydropower, which is sometimes overlooked as an important energy source nationally, was mentioned in Trump’s orders, but they are not looking for any specific actions.

“I think we are encouraged by some of what we have seen in those executive orders,” said Clark Mather of Northwest River Partners. “We want to work with him and all policy makers to bring balance to these policy issues.”

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com.