Native American tribes and industry groups reach hydroelectric compromise, sending deal to Congress


At long last, Native American tribes, environmental activists, and the hydroelectric power industry have reached a deal on a legislative package that could "increase hydroelectric power production, conservation, and energy storage," The Wall Street Journal reports.
The proposed agreement arrives after four years of discussions between the various groups, who have often disagreed on issues involving "vanishing fish populations and changes to river ecosystems," the Journal writes. The growing threat of climate change, however, has brought the opponents together, helping them "find common ground to potentially expand hydroelectric power." The deal will still require congressional approval, a potentially difficult task.
Groups backing the measure include the National Hydropower Association, American Rivers, the Skokomish Tribe, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition to other provisions, one key component of the package shifts authority from the Department of the Interior to tribes as to the conditions "put on permits for things like the protection of tribal cultural resources or fish passage," the Journal writes.
The groups involved in the deal plan to send it to Congress and the White House on Monday.
"Tribes need to be fully at the table as critical governmental agencies whose lands and resources are impacted by these projects," Mary Pavel, member of the Skokomish Tribe of Washington and law partner at firm Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry LLP, told the Journal. "This package allows this to happen in very significant and historic ways." Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Earth's seasons are out of whack
Under the radar The seasons' unfixed nature in different regions of the planet may have impacted biodiversity and evolution
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquake
speed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
When does autumn begin?
The Explainer The UK is experiencing a 'false autumn', as climate change shifts seasonal weather patterns
-
How 'freakosystems' are becoming the norm
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
Cloudbursts: what are the 'rain bombs' hitting India and Pakistan?
The Explainer The sudden and intense weather event is almost impossible to forecast and often leads to deadly flash-flooding and landslides
-
What do heatwaves mean for Scandinavia?
Under the Radar A record-breaking run of sweltering days and tropical nights is changing the way people – and animals – live in typically cool Nordic countries
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questions
Under the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Acid rain is back: the sequel nobody wanted
Under The Radar A 'forever chemical' in rainwater is reviving a largely forgotten environmental issue