I agree that the fringe environmentalists, and the trendy anti-science know-nothings who fear microwave ovens and want us to convert to biomass, are definitely players in the energy crisis in this state.

Consider on the other hand that, as much as we may disapprove of the Sierra Club's obstructionist tactics, they are filling a vacuum. Few other major players that I know are even halfway serious about trying to preserve or restore anything at all.

When it comes to "blame", I think the California body politick, and particularly our elected representatives, have to absorb the lion's share of the blame. Of course, we come from a day and age when elected officials were also supposed to be leaders. Silly me.

The environmental groups are small, well-funded and well-organized, ideologically consistent, and very vocal. Few groups in the rest of the state can claim that.

Just because this state has powerful lobbies and pressure groups doesn't let Sacramento off the hook for not only listening, but failing to act for two or more decades. I saw it coming and so did you. Why didn't they? In truth, they did; they just didn't address the issues.

That's the way I think it will go down in the history books. Sure, I enjoy lambasting Bush's transparently obvious buddy Mr. Lay (of Enron), and you like to lambaste the "Green" wackos. They both deserve it. I think there's plenty of room to spread the blame.

But, our State has had a regulatory legal monopoly over the production AND distribution of power, water and natural gas for the better part of a century. The P.U.C. (Public Utilities Commission) are little more than inert puppets of whomsoever happens to be in power at the minute. There has never been a consistent set of rules. There has never been a master plan.

That's why I say history will pin it on the elected officials, or maybe on the elective process itself.

The California initiative process, in particular, has been subverted into a dog-eat-dog battle that divides us against ourselves, with the political vultures waiting in the wings to feed on the carcasses. When citizens and businesses are stripped of bona-fide constitutional protections by the political equivalent of the Jenny Jones show, the only group that consistently benefits is elected officialdom.

PG&E used to be a superb investment and a fantastic place to work. The uneasy sparring matches between each successive generation of P.U.C. and PG&E operating officers has apparently reduced them all to ineffectual knee-jerk supervisors capable of just barely functioning at all when times are really good.

Pray for a miracle. Pray for good weather.

When Chevron points to "market forces" for the obscene cost of gasoline in this state, we can grin and bear it, maybe, even though we know better. The State cannot get away with this ploy, since the state has usurped that power that (on some other planet or "alternate world") might have given "free enterprise" a chance to work out a cheap, efficient distribution system.

We live in a world where rights, free trade and efficient distribution systems are so far removed from the real-world process that, were a just and reasonable man to suddenly inherit a Chevron or PG&E or an Enron, he would probably end up shrugging his shoulders and doing the same thing.

If we neutralized all the bad guys and prevented them from participating in the process entirely, we might as well all start chopping up the furniture for firewood now. Besides, they would probably be replaced by an even less-qualified crowd. Look at the gangsters running the show in Moscow now!

Maybe this crisis is what it takes to heat a mass of inert gas into moving on.

Windmills? Solar? I think of them as interesting local solutions. If I owned a house in a sunny area and had the money, I definitely would be putting up electric panels right now. If I lived anywhere near Altamont or Tehachapi Passes, I'd be more of a windmill booster, too. But all this energy goes into "the grid", not to be used as reserves, but to be sold, most likely, out of state.

Nuclear? The world has learned a lot about how NOT to build a nuclear power plant in the last 30 years. Again, the politicians are not pushing unlimited energy because it is politically unpopular in some circles. Have you read about the new "Pebble" reactors? Carbon-coated fuel pellets about the size of billiard balls, perfectly spaced; just dump them in a long shallow bin like a bed of gravel. No fuel rods. Apparently a meltdown is a physical impossibility. Coolant would be non-corrosive helium or another inert gas.

If California doesn't want it, there are states that will. Ever drive to Phoenix? Along I-10 is a sign that reads "Nuclear Facility". Behind it, all you see is still more desert, a few cacti and scrub brush. It's all underground ... feeding the Grid every day of the year. Thank heavens.

Alex

3/20/2001