In return, President Bush and Vice President Cheney, themselves former oil industry executives, have tapped insiders boasting long resumes in the petroleum, mining, and utility industries to develop one of the Administration's first major initiatives. Conspicuous by their absence during the development of the plan were environmentalists, energy efficiency experts, and renewable energy industries. The Administration's proposals on hydro are out of step with the rapidly growing number of riverfront communities that are discovering that river restoration is the key to new economic prosperity through tourism and recreation. The most suitable sites for hydroelectric dams were identified and developed long ago. No new major hydroelectric facility has been constructed since the 1970s.
Dams are very damaging to rivers.
Dams drown important habitat under reservoirs, prevent fish from migrating upstream, and kill fish migrating downstream in turbines. Dams can create dangerous downstream conditions by releasing too much or too little water, water that is too cold or too hot for river wildlife, and water that may not have enough oxygen in it for fish to survive. Shad populations in the Susquehanna River crashed in the mid 1970s. They are rebounding thanks to fish lifts and other facilities on the major hydropower dams - and the removal of more than 30 smaller dams on Susquehanna River tributaries. Federally owned dams, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and Bonneville Power Administration, do not require licenses.