It will be decidedly different but one hopes the new leadership will realize the higher value of providing long term flood control (at the gold standard of a 500 year level) and protecting the capital of the state they represent, over the questionable environmental, and changeable economic issues that have so far kept the dam from being built.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Power shift changes tone of dam discussion
By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
A changing political landscape in Washington and the Fourth Congressional District is signaling a seismic shift on environmental hot-button issues like the Auburn dam.
U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, is limping back to Washington after a bruising win over Democratic Party challenger Charlie Brown that saw the incumbent garner just under 50 percent of the popular vote and his GOP power base severely eroded by Democrat returns to the majority in the Senate and the House.
On Tuesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, a liberal California Democrat who Doolittle belittled on the campaign trail, was named to serve as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. One of the biggest environmental advocates on Capitol Hill, Boxer replaces Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, who says global warming is a hoax and wanted to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency established by President Richard Nixon.
One of the key issues for environmental groups in the Auburn area during Doolittle's eight-term tenure has been blocking funding for an Auburn dam project. Doolittle, as a member of the House water and energy subcommittee and conference secretary, was able to use his clout most recently to move spending through for a $1 million cost report on dam construction.
Tim Woodall, president of Auburn's Protect American River Canyons, said the election bodes well for the environment, both locally and on a national scale.
"While John Doolittle was able to hold onto his congressional seat, his reputation is in tatters and his position of influence is gone," Woodall said. "Fortunately, this means he will no longer be in a position to sneak wasteful Auburn dam studies into federal spending bills."
Bob Massey, a member of the pro-Auburn Dam Council, said Doolittle had worked hard in the past and will continue to be a big help in the effort to build a multipurpose dam on the American River at Auburn. The dam council is planning to continue to press for dam funding that would involve a local effort involving five counties -- Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo and San Joaquin -- which would raise money through revenue bonds and a parcel tax, he said.
