You are here

George and Hetch Hetchy

Share

    Do politicians always have ulterior motives, or does it just seem that way? Or, as Phoebe once put it to Joey in an episode of Friends, are there no selfless good deeds?
    I ask because the San Francisco Bay Guardian believes it knows why the president's FY08 budget proposal for the National Park Service contains $7 million for studies into restoring the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite. In a nutshell, the newspaper contends that George is trying to line the pockets of Pacific Gas and Electric.
    How? Well, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir not only provides water to the city of San Francisco, but also hydropower. Remove the dam and not only does the water go away, but so does the hydropower....and in steps PG&E.
    Plausible? Perhaps, though it'll take more than $7 million to tear down the
O'Shaughnessy Dam and create millions of new PG&E customers.
    And then, of course, there are those who believe the removal of the dam does not equate with the loss of hydropower. According to Environmental Defense, the dam's removal would not stop the flow of the Tuolumne River through downstream generating stations.
    Under a restoration scenario, flows from the Tuolumne River and releases from other  system reservoirs could still generate 60-80% of the hydropower currently produced by San Francisco’s three generating facilities, the group claims.
The amount of hydropower currently generated in the system accounts on average for only 0.6% of California’s total generation. Environmental Defense proposes that replacement energy supplies could be largely made up through renewable resources, such as wind and solar, or by investments in energy efficiency, which could reduce dependence upon polluting fossil fuels. 
   

Comments

Hey, anything's possible with the wrecking crew that's holed up in the White House or whatever undisclosed location they're choosing of late.

One big problem with this hypothesis--PG & E controls the power coming out of the Hetch Hetchy dam under a contract with the city of San Francisco. So any reduction in the hydroelectric generating capacity would only hurt PG & E.

This is a common diversion tactic from the City of San Francisco and its news rags. When Donald Hodel, Secretary of Interior under Reagan, suggested an HH restoration study, SF suggested that it was only because they wanted to restart work on the Auburn Dam. Environmental groups around the country got distracted by the argument and ended up NOT SUPPORTING Hodel's plan to restore Hetch Hetchy. It's merely a tactic used by selfish city officials to cause confusion in environmental circles. And unfortunately it tends to work. Don't be fooled. Restoring Hetch Hetchy is a good idea for its own sake. Who cares what other motives the devil may have? Hetch Hetchy is now, and was before the dam, inside the nation's park and deserves to be returned to all the people, not just an elite few.

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.