Klamath Advocates Ask Buffett to Close Deal
By Dan Bacher, Indymedia
April 29, 2009

Klamath Basin tribal members, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and river advocates have traveled to Omaha, Nebraska for the past two years to educate shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation about the urgent need to remove the Klamath River dams owned by its subsidiary, PacifiCorp, during the company's annual shareholders meeting. This weekend they will ask Warren Buffett, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway and the richest man in the world, to "open the river" and "close the deal" in order to restore salmon and steelhead to the river above the dams.

Last year over 30 Klamath Basin activists attended the shareholders meeting. Several members of the group spoke before the crowd of over 35,000 shareholders urging Warren Buffett to remove his dams on the Klamath River, while others unfurled banners during the meeting.

"This year, we're as organized and determined as ever to get Klamath River people back to Omaha to call on PacifiCorp to close the dam removal deal and open our river," according to a statement from the Klamath Riverkeeper. "While we are cautiously optimistic regarding PacifiCorp’s ongoing negotiations with local communities on a dam removal plan, we want the corporation to know we are anxious to see a final binding agreement that removes dams and protects our water quality."

The group will be holding a film night in collaboration with Progressive Omaha to help inform members of the public on Klamath River issues, willl hold a press conference for national and international media, and will educate shareholders on the progress to date to remove PacifiCorp’s Klamath River dams.

"This weekend we want to give the company some praise for coming to the table and doing the right thing," said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe. "PacifiCorp has committed to negotiating the dam removal agreement. At the same time, the deal isn't there yet. They're still negotiating the deal and the final agreement hasn't been forged."

"Right now the biggest obstacle to dam removal is the State of California," emphasized Tucker. "The Schwarzenegger administration seeks to link dam removal on the Klamath to a disastrous water bond that includes a peripheral canal and more dams. We think Klamath Dam removal should stand on its own merits and not be linked to destroying somebody else's river."

The annual shareholder meeting, presided over by Warren Buffett and Charles Munger, is set for Saturday, May 2 at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Over 35,000 people are expected to attend the "Woodstock of Capitalism."

On the same day that Klamath River advocates will be urging Buffett to "open the river" and "close the deal," the socially responsible investment firm Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”), a shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, is joining two nonprofit advocacy organizations, the International Labor Rights Forum (“ILRF”) and International Rivers, in calling on fellow Berkshire Hathaway investors to back a proposal on the agenda for the company’s upcoming May 2, 2009 annual meeting that requests that Berkshire prepare a “Sustainability Report” on its performance on environmental and social issues.

“Klamath River dams now operated by Berkshire Hathaway’s PacifiCorp subsidiary have been linked to toxic water conditions that produced the largest single salmon die-off in U.S. history," International Rivers Executive Director Patrick McCully stated. "Now PacifiCorp has promised to pay up to $200 million for the dams’ removal, because government studies show this would be cheaper than making the dams compliant with environmental laws. When your company has dams that are so harmful that it's cheaper to dismantle them than get them re-licensed, shouldn’t shareholders know that?”

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.

Klamath Dam Protesters Return to Berkshire
By Josh Funk, Associated Press
April 30, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. - A group representing American Indian tribes and commercial fishermen from California and Oregon that has protested at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholder meetings in the past are back again this year.

But this time the group will be praising Berkshire, led by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. They are in Omaha to show their support for the decision by the company's utility unit to back a preliminary agreement to remove four dams on the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border.

Representatives of the tribes and a spokesman for the PacifiCorp utility owned by Berkshire said they are optimistic a final deal on the future of the Klamath River can be reached before a June 30 deadline.

"I think we're on course for something that's going to be beneficial for all parties," said Craig Tucker, a spokesman for the Karuk Tribe.

Removing the dams is widely seen as a key to restoring dwindling West Coast salmon runs. The four dams, built between 1908 and 1962, block salmon from 300 miles of spawning habitat while producing enough electricity to power about 70,000 homes. In recent years, toxic algae has plagued the river, and river advocates have sued PacifiCorp to fix the algae problem.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council has recommended calling off California's commercial chinook salmon fishing season for the second year in a row because of concerns about the fish population.

The preliminary deal announced last fall calls for all four of PacifiCorp's dams on the Klamath to be removed over time as long as a federal study shows dam removal is feasible and cost-effective. But the deal limits the amount PacifiCorp's customers would pay through higher rates to $200 million, and it gives the utility time to add other renewable energy sources to replace the dams.

Besides the costs ratepayers will cover, the state of California will ask voters to approve a $250 million bond. Surcharges would be about $15 to $20 a year to PacifiCorp's 500,000 customers in Oregon and 45,000 customers in California. Any dam removal costs over $450 million must be worked out later.

PacifiCorp also pledged to give California $500,000 a year for fish habitat improvements until the dams are removed.

But some of the details could change in a final agreement.

PacifiCorp spokesman Art Sasse said a number of groups concerned about the river have been working on an agreement.

"We're optimistic we'll be able to meet the deadline," Sasse said.

Fourteen protesters concerned about the Klamath River will be among the more than 35,000 people expected to attend Saturday's Berkshire shareholders' meeting in Omaha.

Georgiana Myers, who is a member of the Yurok Tribe, said the protesters plan to use a more positive tone this year to encourage PacifiCorp to deliver what it agreed to last fall.

"We're here to keep encouraging them to do the right thing," said Myers, who also works with the Klamath Riverkeeper newsletter.

Berkshire's Des Moines, Iowa-based utility division, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., owns PacifiCorp, which serves 1.7 million customers in six western states.

PacifiCorp is one of more than 60 Berkshire subsidiaries. Omaha-based Berkshire owns more than 60 subsidiaries including insurance, clothing, furniture, and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms. Berkshire also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co. and Wells Fargo.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.