Business as Usual

Here we have a little story that involves two Republican traits; first, the battle against science (and in general, truth) and two, the slavish devotion to corporate interests ahead of all else. Sen. Larry E. Craig of Idaho, tired of scientists trying to fulfill their mission of tracking salmon in the Columbia River, has eliminated funding for the agency. Why does Sen. Craig have a problem with the salmon counters?

"The Fish Passage Center has documented, in excruciating statistical detail, how the Columbia-Snake hydroelectric system kills salmon. Its analyses of fish survival data also suggest that one way to increase salmon survival is to spill more water over dams, rather than feed it through electrical turbines."

Sounds to me like they're just doing their job. But wait:

"Salmon math has clearly riled up Craig, who in his last election campaign in 2002 received more money from electric utilities than from any other industry and who has been named "legislator of the year" by the National Hydropower Association."

So of course it's not simly good enough to make an argument that the need for hydro-electric power outweighs a need to protect salmon and let the public decide. Instead it's better to simply eliminate a group who might report inconvenient facts-like a salmon decline-that the public might be interested in.

Fortunately there are other agencies in Idaho also responsible for keeping track of the salmon population (and maybe these out of work scientists can get jobs there.) But otherwise, it's just business as usual in the Republican Congress.