Don Brunell

There’s an old saying, “There’s more than one way to catch a cat.” It means, if you don’t succeed one way, try again using a different strategy.

In this case, the “cat” is the Columbia River — or more precisely, eliminating the dams and commercial use of the river. The activists’ vision of a wild, free-flowing Columbia River has great emotional appeal, but it would have dire consequences for our state.

Those dams produce 75 percent of our electricity, making Washington the largest producer of clean, affordable hydropower in the nation. How will we heat and light our offices, factories, hospita...