Hi everyone-

Here's the latest moment in the effort to keep Mama Sky flowing free- I will keep this short n sweet, and I hope someone will re-post this on facebook...

If you are a South Snohomish County resident, Toni Olsen is the SnoPUD Commissioner who is in your district, and she is up for reelection. As one of three PUD Commissioners, she has consistently supported the Sunset Falls Hydro Project on the Skykomish. Just a week before the voter's pamphlet came out, she switched her position and has now come out against it. This is a classic "Flip Flop" right before election time.

Three challengers are on the ballot, and all three are against the Sunset Falls project in no uncertain terms.

The Save The Sky Coalition Supports Gordon Sibley for Snohomish PUD Commissioner Position #3. The idea is to oust Olsen in the primary, and then move forward from there. She had her opportunity to exercise leadership and now it's time to pursue alternatives.

Vote for Gordy in the August 2nd Primary, or at least vote for one of Olsen's challengers. After last winter's billing fiasco and the earlier abandoned Tidal Project in Admiralty Inlet, Snohomish County Ratepayers demand Accountability and a change at the PUD.


***check out this Monroe Monitor article explaining each candidate's position...***

If you aren't registered in snoho county please tell someone you know who is. The River Can't Speak For Itself!!

Edited by jP - 28 Jul 2016 at 6:56pm

Yay! Thank YOU, Megan!

OK, I am definitely against the Sky hydro project. It would be a sh*tshow on an absolutely exceptional river for not that much power, the riverbed disturbance (especially the mobilized sediment load) would be pretty terrible for the water and streambed ecology, and from the human perspective the traffic would be even worse.

That being said, I'm going to poke the hornets' nest, which in reality may be abandoned but for JP.

What does the PNW whitewater community view as an acceptable energy source? Professor Paddle, Facebook and our cars don't run on rainbows, and those are relatively rare here anyways. Nonetheless, 25 MW or whatever at the Sky means getting rid of a coal plant in Olympia. Not our coal, and the Powder River Basin in WY is not a whitewater mecca, but nonetheless. If the geothermal project on the NF Sky at Garland had worked out (deep down it was too cold), would that be suitable? What about tidal power, wind turbines, geothermal on Mt. St. Helens or at Carson Hot Springs on the Wind River?

What would we sacrifice as a community for getting away from fossil fuels? EVERYONE has to sacrifice something. The Skykomish River should not be that victim, but it's something to think about, and maybe discuss. It's a pretty natural question for SnoPUD to ask, since their constituents are strongly for renewables *in general*. We should have an answer.

My perspective is go full on wind and geothermal; tidal is a wash, and our rivers in WA have already been hit hard enough. I'd be OK with pumped hydro (energy storage, not generation) on a suitable ephemeral stream drainage or three. For what it's worth.

We all hate NIMBYs when it's not our backyard, but almost everywhere is someone's backyard and we get that way ourselves sometimes, like now. And the places that aren't anyone's backyard are the most special of all.

JP, thanks for posting the link to the Monroe Monitor article. It was cool to see that ALL the candidates are opposed to it. With a little luck, Ms. Olsen will come in 3rd place in the primary and then in November we'll have our choice of new blood. Maybe that's unlikely since she's a incumbent... but who knows... there are a LOT of folks P.O.'d at the PUD now due to the billing nightmares this past year and I'm sure there's a lot of folks who were burned by the PUD looking for change.


I will be voting for Gordy!








Edited by JoesKayak - 29 Jul 2016 at 12:03pm