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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan B. who wrote (296718)	9/14/2002 2:56:44 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Dismal Dan, Tell me what you know of the gutting of PURPA, the CFTC OTC derivatives decision in 1993, PSLRA of 1995, FERC's RTO initiative, the fate of Cal-PX, Cal-ISO's flawed trading schema, AB 1890 and when it's clear you have even the slightest clue about what you are talking about we might have a conversation. Until then, you seem eminently worthy of ignoring. Re: Warped re-regulation has lots to do with the higher price of energy, not de-regulation. Astonishing. Who do you think you can fool with that lie? De-regulation's great result is to allow criminals like Ken Lay to destroy markets and apparently get away with it. Do yourself a favor, try to quit living in your world of fantasy.

To: Dan B. who wrote (296718)	9/14/2002 3:03:26 AM
From: RON BL	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

What the California Legislature and the Governor Must Do Immediately to Solve the Energy Crisis in California By Dr. Bill Wattenburg KGO Radio AM810 ABC San Francisco January 24, 2001 My Opinions: The California State Legislature and former Governor Wilson created the present energy crisis by passing laws to supposedly deregulate the power industry in California. They were pushed by the big power users who knew that there was going to be a power shortage with certainty. The big users supplied our politicians with millions of dollars of political campaign contributions for their 1998 election. The present legislature and Governor Davis continued this absurdity until the predicted crisis hit us all in the pocketbook. So-called environmental groups collected millions of dollars as attorney’s fees for stopping all building of power plants everywhere in California. So-called consumer groups who hated the utilities did nothing to stop this. The big users wanted to lock up the available power in long term contracts, and they did. But that left no reserve power for the consumers and the utilities such as PG&E and Edison. As a direct result, the utilities have been forced to pay ten times more for reserve power during peak demand. But their hands were tied behind their backs. They were not allowed to buy power on long term contracts and they could not raise rates to pay for the expensive power they must deliver to consumers. This is what the big private users wanted so that the utilities could not buy the limited power available. The politicians in Sacramento gave the big users (and big campaign contributors) what they wanted—and abandoned the consumers and voters of California. The legislature bankrupted the utilities that deliver power to homeowners as surely as if they had stolen the money out of their bank accounts—while these same politicians were taking millions of dollars in political contributions from those who are now profiting immensely from the energy crisis in California. The so-called consumer groups are equally irresponsible. They were paid large sums of money out of our rates to attack the utilities that supplied us with power at reasonable rates for 100 years. They now insist that energy should be supplied to consumers for less than what it costs, even though this means bankruptcy for the utilities. Then who will supply power to us? Who will run our utilities? The Sacramento bureaucrats who caused the problem? The so-called consumer groups who want a socialized system that pays them to meddle with it forever?. So, who is going to solve this problem while all California consumers pay the horrible price of political manipulation and stupidity in Sacramento? As usual, California consumers and voters will have to tell the Sacramento politicians what to do—or it won’t be done. Here is what I believe must be done quickly—or you will be paying five times over for power for many years: Re-regulate the utilities and demand that they build more power plants until there is a surplus of power and sensible deregulation is possible. First, the legislature must re-regulate PG&E and Edison until such time as there is a surplus of power available in the state so that real competition can exist. The state must insure that these utilities will be financially healthy enough to provide reliable service to customers in the state—as was the case until the deregulation fraud pushed the utilities into near bankruptcy. These means that rate payers will have to pay for the power they receive in the future and pay back at least some of the power they have already received that cost the utilities more than they were allowed to charge. There is no free lunch—in particular when the politicians give away the kitchen. The legislature forced the utilities to sell their power plants to outsiders who are now charging us three prices for the same power. The only answer is to build more power plants as soon as possible. The utilities built all of our major plants in California for the last 100 years. The state must guarantee loans to the utilities that are now bankrupt. The state can retain ownership of the plants until such time as the loans are repaid. This is a far better investment of taxpayer’s money than simply paying billions for private power at outrageous prices—money that we will never get back. Once there is at least a 20% surplus of power generation in California, our utilities can be turned loose to sell the power in a truly competitive private market—or sell the power plants—and return a profit to the taxpayers for their loans to build the power plants. Other states such as Texas achieved sensible deregulation in this fashion. They demanded that there be a surplus of power available before they forced deregulation of the utilities. They gave incentives for communities to allow power plants in their areas if they wanted more power. As a result, rates have gone down in many areas of Texas. Cancel so-called environmental laws that were passed by the lawyers to make the lawyers rich—no matter what it costs the citizens. The Legislature and the Governor must change the so-called environmental laws that have allowed the environmental lobby to run the state of California—literally into the ground—while lining their own pockets by stopping any and all building and power plant projects that they choose to attack. Many of the claims that the environment will be unnecessarily damaged are pure scientific fraud calculated to inflame the public. But the so-called environmental saviors who make these claims always get paid millions of dollars of our tax money as attorneys fees for rending their valuable service in stopping the power supplies that the taxpayers need to live and work—to pay the taxes that pay the fraud artists! We must have new laws that say that all environmental reviews and challenges of any public project such as power plant construction must be completed within 90 days after the site is approved by local elected officials and the elected state representatives for the area. For once we will have true responsibility for what is and is not done for the benefit of the working public. Legislature must designate specific power plant sites that can be used immediately The legislature must designate specific sites in the state where power plants can be built quickly with no interference from environmental manipulators or state regulatory agencies. Many sites have already been studied and qualified in all respects—except for fraudulent environmental objections that caused the builders to abandon the projects. The legislature must pass laws that direct the governor to appoint a panel of our best and most experienced scientists and local political representatives to approve power plant sites that are designated so that they can be used immediately—with no interference from environmental manipulators looking to blackmail the public with fraudulent claims and enrich themselves at the public’s expense. Every community must designate power plant sites if they want more power. It is not fair to force power to be generated in someone else’s backyard. The legislature must pass laws that demand that every city, county or region that wants delivery of more power than they are receiving today must designate sites within their own region where power plants can be built to supply these new power requirements. Nuclear power is the only available source of long-term clean power that can meet the demands of California’s growing economy without the threat of price gouging and blackmailing from out of state suppliers of natural gas which is in short supply. Existing nuclear plant sites are available for immediate use. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is proof positive that modern, well designed nuclear plants are the cleanest and least costly sources of power in the future. Nuclear fuel supplies are inexhaustible. In fact, there is a glut of nuclear fuel available in the world since the end of the cold war. Without Diablo Canyon running today, millions of homes and businesses in California would be without power every day, and the rest of us would be paying even more for the power we are getting from plants that use natural gas and coal. As everyone is seeing now, we are running short of natural gas that was supposed to be cheap and inexhaustible, according to the opponents of nuclear power and the scare mongers who stopped the building of all nuclear plants in the U.S. Now, our economy is in a trap from which there is no quick escape. It will take several years to build more plants no matter what we do. There are several sites in California that already have nuclear plants the are either running or shut down. These sites are the best places to build new nuclear plants with a minimum of delay for regulatory approval. For instance, the Rancho Seco nuclear plant site near Sacramento should be approved for a new plant immediately. It is possible the the old plant could be rebuilt as well as adding a new plant. These existing nuclear plant sites are near power lines that can distribute the power to the state. The U.S. has been building nuclear plants for the rest of the world for the last twenty years. The designs are the safest and most modern in the world. The scare stories about dangers from earthquakes were put to the test recently by the massive earth quake in India. Two of the world’s largest nuclear plants are located almost on the fault zone that experienced one of the biggest jolts of this century. The plants suffered no serious damage—as expected because billions of dollars were invested in the construction to guarantee the integrity of the plants. We build nuclear plants in the U.S. the same way—like Diablo Canyon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On KGO Radio I warned our listeners, Governor Davis, and the legislature many times over the last three years that utility rates would skyrocket if they didn’t stop the forced sale of power plants owned by the utilities and the people of this state. Now, they will do every silly thing imaginable to cover up their own mistakes while the working citizens pay the price. They will only do the difficult things that will solve this problem when you, the voters, tell them in a fashion that will make them listen. You must tell them you will not vote for them again—that you will support movements to recall them if necessary. And, you will not forget before the next election. Otherwise, you will be paying an extra $2,000 to $4,000 a year for many more years. You can locate your representatives in Sacramento and write them an email very easily. Go the website www.pushback.com. There you will find links to all your elected representatives in Sacramento and Washington by simply entering your zip code. Then you can send them a email with a click of the mouse