By Buzz Oates
Published March 1, 2001-Sacramento Bee

I was born and have lived my entire 77-year life in Sacramento. My mother was born and lived her whole life here as well. We choose to build our businesses here and raise our families here because this is a special place. But make no mistake: Unless we open our eyes to what is happening around us, Sacramento is destined to be remembered as the great city that it was, rather than the great city that it is.

Twenty-five years ago, this capital was touted as the ideal community. It was promoted by the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce among others for its ample water supply, inexpensive electricity and adequate flood protection. Today, none of those claims can be made since Sacramento is uniquely capable of suffering from severe flooding and drought and now severe power shortages -- all in the same year.

What has caused our fine city to be placed in such a precarious state? In my judgment, one cause stands out above all others: Sacramento has been held hostage by a zealous environmental community that has put the preservation of its own narrowly defined environment above the health, safety and economic prosperity of those who live and work here.

These zealots' mission has been clear and, frankly, their objectives thus far have been successful. In their insistence on stopping growth, these "protectors of the environment" have denied our city the adequate flood protection it deserves. In their myopic attempts to divert more water to fish and other subspecies while opposing the creation of new water storage, environmentalists have crippled our communities, which currently stand at the brink of water rationing and building moratoriums. And in their opposition to the creation of new power-generating facilities and their support of closing existing ones such as Rancho Seco, environmentalists have created a situation in which our region is faced with power outages and rolling blackouts.

To save our fine city, we must find the fortitude to stand up to these so-called stewards of our environment and do what is clearly in the best interest of our own environment. It is clear that we need to build an Auburn dam, and we must do it now.

For years, U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, has been trying to save us from ourselves by encouraging us to join with him in supporting the construction of an Auburn dam -- a dam, by the way, that would provide far more benefits to Sacramento than to his own foothill constituents. He has reminded us that an Auburn dam is the only project that would provide us with the protection against the flood the experts warn is coming. He has told us that an Auburn dam would create an ample water supply for our growing region while providing cold releases for environmental needs downstream. And today, he is reminding us again that some estimate that an Auburn dam could produce up to 600 megawatts of clean, hydroelectric power -- enough power to reliably provide for nearly the entire region.

But for years now, we have ignored Doolittle's call and instead succumbed to the demands of the environmentalists by wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on their "solutions" to our problems. What we have gotten for our efforts is nothing less than the empowerment of an extreme group of radicals cloaked by a politically correct cause and a city that continues to inch precariously closer to disaster.

Do we have the fortitude to join Doolittle in standing up to these malcontented environmentalists and in support of an environment that includes adequate flood protection, a clean, ample water supply, and a reliable, renewable source of power? Or will we allow these fanatics to ruin our quality of life and jeopardize the future of our region?

I have lived here too long, invested too much and care too deeply to see that happen.

Victor Hugo once said, "People don't lack strength, they lack will." There is no doubt that Sacramento has the strength to turn things around for itself, and there is no more poignant time than now for it to discover the will to do so.

Buzz Oates is a developer and owner of Buzz Oates Enterprises