Balance of Energy and Environment
We’ve all heard by now that there are two characters in the Chinese language for “crisis”--one meaning “catastrophe” and the other meaning “opportunity.” Well, it looks like the California electricity crisis has brought the opportunists out in force (“Power Crisis Energizes Push to Drill for Arctic Oil,” Jan. 29).
These weirdos, with their various harebrained schemes to resuscitate nuclear power, abolish environmental regulations and plunder pristine wildernesses, must be thrilled at the prospect of finally completing their project of destroying the environment, one that was started by their fathers after World War II.
RANDALL SMITH
San Diego
* There you go again, over-romanticizing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sure, some of it might be nice, but the portion they want to drill on would better be called the Arctic National Gravel Pit Reserve.
JOHN HACKL
Arcadia
* Re “In 2nd Week, Bush Will Focus on Energy, Taxes,” Jan. 29: When so-called “uniter” Vice President Dick Cheney dismisses our electricity crisis as being a problem “caused by California,” he proves he is more interested in finding blame than finding solutions. It seems he is not willing to take any steps to stop suppliers’ price-gouging and obscene profiteering resulting from the deregulation scheme signed by fellow Republican former Gov. Pete Wilson and will not seek the simple remedy of having the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission put even a temporary cap on wholesale rates.
If distributors of basic necessities jacked up the price in a crisis such as an earthquake or other natural disaster, they would go to jail. But the Bush-Cheney oil company cronies who invested so much in political donations (read: legalized bribery) are laughing.
DOUGLAS DUNN
Oceanside
* George Skelton deserves credit for being the first columnist to point out the roots of our energy crisis in the years following former Gov. Jerry Brown’s leadership and support for energy innovation (Jan. 25). I worked at the California Energy Commission in the late 1970s and helped develop the solar tax credit. We also offered free advice to developers on improving solar orientation in their new homes. Had this been continued we would have no energy shortage--but subsidies have kept the prices artificially low and discouraged innovation and efficiency.
DAVID BAINBRIDGE
San Diego
* An unregulated electricity market would have naturally increased supply to meet increased demand. Thus, our shortage derives from government regulation in the first place, not deregulation. You can’t cheat the free market forever--and the payback accrues strong penalties, as we now see. With electricity, there ain’t no free lunch.
JERRY STILES
El Segundo
* Arianna Huffington’s Jan. 28 column on the $7 million that politicians have accepted from the utility companies since 1998 is right on target. It is obscene for politicians to take such huge sums of money from an industry and then claim that it does not affect their judgment. If they are so uninfluenced by these “contributions” (the polite word for bribes), Gov. Gray Davis and all the other politicians should be happy to place all of the money they have collected from utilities in a fund to assist low-income residents and small businesses to pay the exorbitant electric and gas bills these politicians created. Lord knows the Knights of Sacramento have collected enough money from the HMOs, insurance companies, trial lawyers, banks, etc., to make up for it.
GARY GROSS
Huntington Beach