Energy crisis threatens security, Abraham says

Updated: Feb. 2, 2001 - 10:41 a.m. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told a conference of Western governors Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney will head a task force to seek a quick solution to an energy crisis that Abraham said threatens national security.

"I think it's pretty clear that America's national security, as well as its economic security, is dependent on its energy security," Abraham said during the gathering in Portland, Ore.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, the host of the Western Governors' Association energy conference, agreed, blaming "flawed" deregulation for rising electricity prices.

"I support energy deregulation that supports market prices," Kitzhaber said, "but it's increasingly untenable."

Kitzhaber said increased electricity production is vital, but he warned the environment must be preserved in the rush to build new power plants.

"Sacrificing environmental quality or despoiling pristine wilderness is not required to ensure our energy future," Kitzhaber said.

Other Western governors joined Abraham in warning that an energy shortage is a security threat, and they welcomed the federal task force.

"We're enormously grateful," California Gov. Gray Davis said, calling the energy market in his state "dysfunctional."

Davis said he has ordered all businesses to turn off their lights when they're not needed, hoping for a 50 percent reduction in electricity use in every California county.

But he said conservation can only help in the short term, noting that California is the second-most energy efficient state in the nation, after Rhode Island.

Gov. Gary Locke of Washington state said the energy crisis is "not just a West Coast problem, it's a national problem" that is draining more than $1 billion out of the Northwest economy with "energy costs that simply cannot be justified."

"It's devastating our economy," Locke said.

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles said he had some good news for his fellow governors because natural gas has increasingly been used to generate electricity and Alaska has the largest proven reserves in the nation.

But he said the energy market has not been able to attract the kind of investment to take advantage of it during deregulation, and he called on the federal government to work on ways to increase production.

Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer said a complex mix of fuel sources will be needed to generate eletricity in the 21st century, including solar and wind power, coal, hydroelectric dams, renewable sources such as methanol and ethanol, along with new technology.

But he said the most important goal should be to share the resources effectively.

"No state is an island," Geringer said. "Our energy excess today may be your energy necessity tomorrow."

http://www.sacbee.com/news/beelive/show_story.cgi?oregon

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 02, 2001

Answers

Ole Dick Cheney is better than I thought. Why didn't he vent this quick solution before now.

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), February 02, 2001.