Page One

Oil triumvirate in the big white house 

Editor: 

“BRILLIANT” 

Absolutely brilliant. One word, not 200, is enough to describe Bush’s Long Range Energy Policy. We must thank The Almighty God, the God of Texas, Israel and Taiwan and the Whole Warmed World for putting these three great geniuses Bush, Cheney and Powell in the big white house. A new millennium of bliss and abundance is upon us, the word “conservation” forever banned from the vocabulary. I think we should repaint the white temple in gold, the soft golden hue of oil. 

Jan H. Visser 

Berkeley 

Davis’ plea for help is a bad sign 

Editor: 

Governor Gray Davis’ recent plea for a quick Presidential energy fix in the form of price caps is an ominous sign that he has given up on his own solutions. 

Apparently Governor Davis has completely run out of ideas on how to fix the energy crisis he ignored for two years until it was too late, and his begging for price caps comes in the face of bipartisan opposition to such a short-sighted solution. 

The fact is that last December, Davis’ energy advisors at the ISO asked the FERC to remove price caps because they were constricting supply and threatening blackouts. Even President Clinton’s FERC chairperson opposed price caps because they can lead to blackouts. 

What’s worse, now Governor Davis has hired paid political attack dogs on the state payroll to point fingers at Washington. If the Governor’s only solution is to blame Washington for his own problems, then he ought to consider forfeiting his paycheck because he will have completely abdicated his responsibility to provide Californians with solutions. 

Here are some unsolicited suggestions. Let’s make California an energy-independent state by 2004. Let’s invest in our own home-grown energy sources and use energy more efficiently. Let’s ensure we have healthy utilities and that our state isn’t burdened for decades by high energy costs. 

The bottom line? Davis should take off his price cap and put on his thinking cap. That’s the only way we’re going to weather this crisis. 

Assemblyman Dave Cox 

California Assembly Republican Leader  

Berkeley should look into Brown’s program 

Editor: 

In Oakland, Mayor Brown has proposed a program for renewable energy in which the city will waive fees and expedite plans for residents who want to install solar panels. 

Berkeley should do likewise. 

Phil McArdle 

Berkeley 

It will be hard to find someone to punish for power crisis 

Editor: 

Some of us are pondering how to properly punish the pusillanimous politicians who have perpetrated the present power crisis by passing the deregulation proposal a few years ago. 

Normally, we can turn the responsible rascals out and put the other set of rascals into office for a while. But there are some problems with this. 

For one thing, none of the legislators who produced this monstrosity will personally be up for re-election. Whether because of term limits or for other reasons, all of these rascals, having kicked their constituents in the teeth, have sensibly decided that now would be a good time for a career change. 

For another thing, deregulation was not only a bi-partisan project; the vote was unanimous. No legislator in either party or in either house voted against it. 

However, people are not elected to the state legislature as individuals, but as part of a political party whose program they are pledged to implement. 

Since both major parties are responsible for the current looting of virtually the entire state, it seems only fair that we should vote against all the candidates of both these blatantly pro-business parties. 

But since we can only vote against something by voting for something else, we need to have a party with a clean record on de-regulation on the ballot. 

The Peace and Freedom Party has nearly enough voters registered in its name to regain the ballot status it had formerly. Registrars are reporting that large numbers of voters are abandoning the old, discredited parties and registering independent. But a “declines to state” puts no alternative on the ballot. 

At this point, the most constructive step we can take towards resolving the power crisis may be to switch our registrations to Peace and Freedom. 

Marion Syrek 

Oakland