Saying No

Sempra’s Long Shadow, and Idaho’s Maneuvering

By Shea Andersen, 3-22-06

When a major conglomerate proposed to build a coal-fired power plant in south-central Idaho, casual observers could be forgiven for thinking it would be a shoo-in.

They would have been very wrong, however. Because now that Sempra Generation's plans have had time to sink in, the idea of a major industrial facility in the farms, rivers and fields of Idaho has inspired response from the grass roots to the Capital dome.

The blowback against Sempra has been startling for many reasons: for its volume, for its wide-ranging adherents, and for the bipartisan nature of its champions. The only question is, will it work?

It might: Read today in the Twin-Falls Times News about the Idaho House of Representatives passing a two-year moratorium against the construction of coal-fired power plants.

The measure was sponsored by House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, a Republican from the area where the plant might go. In other words, the wrong guy to take on. The vote for his measure was 64-5. Times-News reporter Michelle Dunlop picks up on the easy justification lawmakers have for the measure: let's take the time to do this right, they say. Opponents say the moratorium sends the wrong message about Idaho's business climate, and wonder how the West will satisfy its ever-growing energy demands.

You might expect a progressive haven like Ketchum to pick up on an issue so close to home (the plant would be within spitting distance of the Wood River Valley), and you'd be right. The Idaho Mountain Express follows the involvement of the Idaho Conservation League and notes that the Sun Valley City Council has passed a resolution expressing its concerns about the power plant.

Say, it's an election year: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brady came out swinging on this issue a while back, and is hoping to land a punch against his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Butch Otter. Over at the Democrat blog Red State Rebels, they're pondering the politics of money, and wondering if Sempra will have sway in Idaho because of its donations.

Newcomb's bill will now go to the Idaho State Senate, and, if it passes, on to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. It's a Republican-dominated Legislature and executive, but with Kempthorne now looking to get confirmed as the next Secretary of the Interior, this could present a tough decision.

If he signs the measure, will he upset an important Department of the Interior constituency, the energy lobby? If he vetoes it, he is likely only to further upset environmentalists, who are unlikely to change their low opinion of him anyway.

He and Newcomb aren't known to be close. How will this decision affect the upcoming close of the Legislature?

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