Conservation Needed for Energy Crisis

Bertram Wolfe and Chauncy Starr (“State’s Energy Problem Has Roots Nationwide,” Commentary, Jan. 3) assume that demand for energy will continue to grow uncontrollably and that we should try to satisfy it at all costs, even if this means building more nuclear power plants.

But the problem lies only partly with the limited supply of energy. As long as it was cheap, we were not careful with how we used it. Conservation should be our main focus in this energy crisis, for it is the only solution that is inexpensive, reduces our dependence on foreign governments and cartels and poses absolutely no environmental threats.

Through its many water shortages, California has proven its ability to conserve resources when necessary. And if consumers and the government demand it, manufacturers will find ways to make their products more energy-efficient.

CHRIS NORLIN

Los Angeles

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Wolfe and Starr’s pitch to sell us, one more time, nuclear energy is unconvincing at best and disingenuous at worst. No mention is given to the serious accidents that have happened in nuclear power plants around the globe. What happened to Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the more recent leakages of radiation at Japanese nuclear facilities? The unsolved problem of how to safely store nuclear waste is dismissed offhand. Would the authors volunteer their own backyards to store this waste?

It is extremely suspicious the way we have gone from an energy surplus to an energy shortage in just a matter of months. Perhaps we don’t have the enormous surplus of energy needed to establish a true supply-and-demand electricity market, but how much are we willing to sacrifice to the god of unregulated capitalism? I say an electricity monopoly regulated by the state is fine with me. And let’s close down those nukes before something really bad happens here.

JUAN CARLOS MARVIZON

Culver City

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“PUC Plans $5-a-Month Electricity Rate Hike” (Jan. 4) states, “Edison executives have said they are being bled to death. They said they spent an average of 30 cents to buy one kilowatt-hour of electricity last month but could only charge customers 7 cents.” I am looking at my most recent bill for electricity that says my bundled energy cost for this period was 12.23 cents per kwh. Now, who is lying? Edison execs or my bill? Whom do I request a refund from for my overcharge? Tell me where my bailout is.

ROBERT RUO

Palm Springs