Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

Energy & Renewable Energy
Oil, Ethanol & Biofuel & Geothermal & Hydropower
Electricity rates to increase in January (14.5%), H&N 12/19/10

Biomass plan gets state support; Final public hearing on proposed 42-megawatt facility scheduled for Jan. 31, H&N, posted to KBC 1/11/12. "Why (Northwest Energy Systems) chose the lowest elevation to build a big smokestack is beyond me,...Why can’t the project be off to the east where it’s not so heavily populated?”

9/13/11 - BRYANT MOUNTAIN PUMPED STORAGE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT, FERC PROJECT NO. 13680. Notification of Intent, Pre-application document. Listed are dozens of endangered species in the area, people who would lose their homes, farms, ranches and businesses (pg. 83), and many groups interested including Klamath Riverkeeper, The Nature Conservancy, Oregon Wild, American Whitewater, Klamath Audubon Society, plus some tribes and government agencies. The resource management plan. Also, pg. 53: "KBRA (Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement). 2010. Klamath basin restoration agreement for the sustainability of public and trust resources and affected communities."

9/12/11: Klamath Basin residents just received notice that their farmland and homes would be destroyed with the creation of a new hydropower facility and reservoir. The following 2009 article is all we have found on the issue:
Hydropower potential; Claims staked for regional power sites, H&N 3/15/09
Closed-system, pumped storage, H&N 3/15/09

Biomass plants likely to keep people away, H&N 6/12/11, letter by Annette Belz, Klamath Falls.

Second biomass plant endangers air quality, H&N letter to editor by Paul Fouch, President Save Our Rural Oregon, Klamath Falls, posted to KBC 6/11/11

Another biomass plant? Proposal would be the second facility built off Highway 66 west of Klamath Falls, H&N, posted to KBC 6/11/11

Air quality and biomass receive a failing grade, H&N letter by Fred Charles, Klamath Falls, posted to KBC 6/11/11. "A while back Klamath County received another “F” grade for air quality from the American Lung Association."

Klamath issues: "Protecting the Federal Hydropower Investment: A Stakeholder's Perspective" Opening Statement by Congressman Tom McClintock, Chairman, House Water and Power Subcommittee. Oversight Hearing on “Protecting the Federal Hydropower Investment: A Stakeholder’s Perspective,” posted to KBC 5/21/11.

Natural Resources Committee to Hold Hearing on Roadblocks to Solar and Wind Production on Public Lands 5/6/11

Senator Doug Whitsett March 4, 2011 Newsletter. "Ethanol production currently comprises just 8% of the US demand for vehicle fuel, but it requires 40% of the US corn crop to produce...About a tenth of the world’s production of cereal output is projected to be used for ethanol production if all of the world’s present targets for ethanol are to be met. The certain result will cause food prices to rise from 15-40% worldwide. Millions of humans will go hungry on a global scale as food prices are driven out of their reach due to biofuels production."

Three biomass plants? Hundreds of jobs? H&N 2/26/11

Klamath biomass plant site a threat to air quality, proposed location would also increase Basin’s air pollution, H&N, posted to KBC 2/6/11

Biomass emission tests should be complete, H&N letter by Greg Beckman Sr, posted to KBC 1/23/11

Medicine Lake geothermal issue goes back to BLM, Siskiyou Daily, posted to KBC 12/23/10. HERE for Medicine Lake Page

Biomass meeting draws protests, H&N, posted 12/19/10

Lakeview biomass: Good project, wrong place; Aquifer under location contaminated with byproducts of old uranium mill, H&N guest writer Chris Zinda, posted to KBC 12/8/10

Ahh, yes: biomass will solve all our problems, H&N by Fred Charles, Klamath Falls, letter to editor.
Biomass facility would be built near Klamath Falls, H&N, posted to KBC 11/18/10

PRESS RELEASE: Solar Energy Project to Aid Klamath Irrigators, PacifiCorp 9/30/09

From Colby Marshall, Oregon Congressman Greg Walden's Representative: Biomass 6/3/09

County supervisors pass renewable energy resolution, Siskiyou Daily News 4/14/09

* Renewable Energy Conference Invitation 4/23/09, from Jennifer Simon, USDA FSA Executive Director
* Agenda > HERE
* USDA Rural Energy Programs, posted to KBC 4/14/09

Tribes want policies to help them aid nation’s hydropower needs, Indian Country, posted to KBC 3/27/09. (KBC NOTE: 4 Klamath River Tribes want to tear down our Klamath River hydropower serving 70,000 households annually. In the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, Klamath Tribe in addition to dam removal, wants to be given part of the reservation they sold, water rights "with the priority date of time immemorial", funds, and neighboring land.) Klamath Tribe document of intensions

Hydropower potential; Claims staked for regional power sites, H&N 3/15/09
Closed-system, pumped storage, H&N 3/15/09

Don't ignore hydroelectric, The Coloradoan, posted to KBC 3/3/09. "...the reports indicate that the hydroelectric facilities costs are nominally 25 percent of, or less than, the same costs for wind and solar."

Interior’s Delay on OCS Leasing is really a Moratorium, House Natural Resource Committee 2/25/09

New Report Highlights Extensive Economic Benefits from Offshore Drilling, Over a Million New Jobs Would be Created, House Committee on Natural Resources 2/23/09

Salazar Voids Drilling Leases On Public Lands in Utah, Washington Post 2/5/09. "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar yesterday canceled oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land after opponents said the drilling would blight Utah's scenic southeastern corner"...Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said natural gas producers in Utah and the intermountain West produce more than a quarter of the country's natural gas on less than 1 percent of its public land. 'We wonder why the administration is implementing policies that will limit economic development in the West, decrease energy security and make addressing climate change even more difficult.' "

Calif. panel rejects new offshore oil drilling, Sac Bee, posted 2/1/09. "...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other members of the California congressional delegation who also expressed concern that approving a drilling proposal could undercut their efforts to reintroduce the federal moratorium."

Hydro power shows signs of comeback, Seattle Times NW, posted to KBC 12/30/08

Alternative Energy, talk on KFLS by Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett , Klamath Falls District 28, 11/22/08. "It does not require a mental genius to figure out that increasing our biofuel production to meet all of our needs is flatly impossible. In fact, we could only produce about 15% of our current energy needs if we dedicated all of our tillable farmland to grow corn for ethanol production. The collateral damage would be certain starvation. The “biofuel energy independence plan” being advanced by President-elect Obama and by our Congressional leadership is an economic con and a scientific deception."

New Energy Report Finds U.S. Domestic Production Could Provide 179 Years Of Oil & 495 Years Of Natural Gas Supplies, PRESS RELEASE, posted 10/6/08

UN expert faults US, EU biofuel use in food crisis, Capital Press 9/10/08. (KBC NOTE: in the Klamath Basin, more than 100,000 acres of farmland have been taken out of production. Not land for biofuel. Government agencies and Nature Conservancy demand that they possess it and make swamps, worsening the water use from evaporation, and worsening the water quality and water temperature.)

Hydropower: America's leading renewable energy resource has bright future, National Hydropower Association, 6/13/08. And on the Klamath River they want to destroy this capability for clean power.

Power plant closer to reality, $35 million geothermal project planned, H&N, posted to KBC 3/28/08

Company proposing (Klamath) geothermal power plant, H&N 3/26/08

PRESS RELEASE: Northwest’s First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Bound for Oregon, US Senator Gordon Smith 2/8/08

Dark side of a hot biofuel, Scramento Bee 1/20/08.

Rebate can help harness sun’s power; Tax credits offered for solar energy systems, by Lee Juillerat, Herald and News 10/4/07

A new (biofuel) use for an old plant, Herald and News 9/13/07

Sali wins support for hydropower, Idaho Press Tribune, posted to KBC 9/4/07

A new direction at Liskey Farms, H&N, posted 9/2/07

The Ethanol Scam: One of America's Biggest Political Boondoggles, Rolling Stones, posted to KBC 8/20/07

Corn Facts, Not Corn Flakes! EcoLogic 8/9/07. "Some two percent of the population feed the rest of us..."

Ethanol plant not coming, Herald and News, June 16, 2007

The Many Myths of Ethanol By John Stossel, Real Clear Politics, posted to KBC 6/6/07. "...ethanol would cost much more than gasoline. The claim that using ethanol will save energy is another myth. Studies show that the amount of energy ethanol produces and the amount needed to make it are roughly the same."

Hidden costs of corn-based ethanol, diverting corn from food to fuel could create unprecedented turmoil, CSMonitor, posted 5/28/07 "With current technology, almost all of this biofuel would have to come from corn because there is no feasible alternative. However, achieving the 15 percent goal would require the entire current US corn crop, which represents a whopping 40 percent of the world's corn supply."

National Cattlemen's Beef Association - Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns (regarding biofueul mandates), along with note from Congressman Walden's office, posted to KBC 5/17/07 "Senate Bill Seeks to Increase RFS for Feedgrain-Based Ethanol: NCBA is working to halt movement of S. 987, the Biofuels for Energy Security and Transportation Act of 2007, until Congress can fully understand the consequences this bill could have on cattle producers."

Ethanol boom puts pressure on farm conservation programs, CQ Green Sheets, April 16, 2007

Venezuela's Chavez Slams Bush Ethanol Plan, Planet Ark April 13, 2007. "To produce the ethanol necessary to substitute the gasoline consumed only the US, it would be necessary to cultivate nearly all the arable land on this continent," he said."

Fidel Castro: U.S. Biofuel Plan 'Genocidal,' Newsmax, posted 4/6/07

Ethanol Undergoes Evolution as Political Issue, Former Opponents Clinton, McCain Tout Its Benefits, but Its Campaign Value May Be Dropping, Washington Post, posted to KBC 3/31/07. HERE for ethanol page.

ETHANOL: Farmers to plant most corn since 1944 -- USDA, Greenwire, March 30, 2007

Is ethanol the answer? H&N 3/18/07 "Just growing corn requires expending energy — plowing, planting, fertilizing and harvesting all require machinery that burns fossil fuel. Modern agriculture relies on large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, both of which are produced by methods that consume fossil fuels. Then there’s the cost of transporting the corn to an ethanol plant, where the fermentation and distillation processes consume yet more energy....As much as 100 million acres of land would have to be dedicated to energy crops in order to reach the goal of substituting renewable biofuels for 25 percent of the nation’s fuel consumption by 2025, the report estimated. That would be a significant fraction of the nation’s 800 million acres of cultivable land"

Kulongoski should spell out what 'green' power will cost, Albany Democrat-Herald, posted to KBC 3/13/07 "If coal-burning plants can't be used because of emission caps, if dams are being shut down to restore salmon runs, if nuclear plants are no longer being built, if geothermal and wave energy don't come close to meeting the demand, and if the wind doesn't blow to keep the windmill farms churning away, then what happens if we turn on the switch?"

Petroleum limited; biofuels can help fill gap; Here are some answers to concerns raised over growing canola in the Klamath Basin, H&N letter, posted 3/13/07. "It would take about 10,000 acres of canola to produce 1 million gallons of biodiesel. That sounds like a lot, but in Oregon we consume around 2 million gallons of diesel per day. Thus it would take nearly 8 million acres of canola to provide 100 percent of Oregon’s diesel need."

Fidel Castro: U.S. Biofuel Plan 'Genocidal,' Newsmax, posted 4/6/07

City may seek loan for biofuels project, H&N 3/21/07

March 10 - Klamath Regional Biofuels Conference Agenda
March 10 - Klamath Regional Biofuels Registration

Ethanol Undergoes Evolution as Political Issue, Former Opponents Clinton, McCain Tout Its Benefits, but Its Campaign Value May Be Dropping, Washington Post 3/13/07

Ethanol: Feed a Person for a Year or Fill Up an SUV? CounterPunch 3/6/07

Ethanol supply on track to exceed demand, complicating price debate, CQ March 1, 2007. "Democrat Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources panel, seized on the numbers to raise the possibility of increasing the ethanol-usage requirements. “I have not heard anybody explain how you can get 35 billion gallons by 2017,” Bingaman said later."

Getting ready for biodiesel H&N 2/1/07

OSU study questions biofuel cost-effectiveness, Register Guard 1/31/07

KLAMATH FALLS: Local products, including sugar beets, would be considered for ethanol, H&N, posted 1/27/07

Klamath ethanol plant would benefit local ag. Capital Press, posted 1/21/07

Ethanol plant is a move toward secure, reliable, affordable power, H&N Letter by WD Kennedy 1/18/07. "...ethanol production in Klamath can utilize our rail infrastructure, and most importantly, the crops grown in the Klamath Basin. This is part of a new direction for our irrigated agriculture."