<These polls are interesting. You can do anything with them. On the West Coast there was a poll asking people if they supported getting rid of dams on the Columbia to make life easier for salmon and steelhead.

Large majority said they would.

Next, they were asked if they would be willing to pay $5 a month more for electric power in order to take out the dams and let the salmon and steelhead swimming free.

The overwhelming vote was to "screw the fish".

When people have to pay for these things, it changes.



Most polls are intended to get a specific result, and the questions are tilted to get that result. I've been polled a number of times, and the weighting of the questions is painfully obvious. I always take the results with a grain of salt. Internet polls are utterly worthless, although amusing.

I would lay odds that most people in the Northwest have no idea what role the vast dam network plays in the power that comes out of their walls. There's a reason much of our aluminum industry located up there.

If they shut down the hydroelectric system, it would end up costing them a hell of a lot more than 5 bucks a month, never mind the jobs as the industrial base shut down. Eighty-four percent of Washington State's power comes from those dams. They've been there many years. So have the fish.