CHENEY WARNS U.S. ON ENERGY (article from 3/21/01)

AP | 3/21/01 | AP

[randita]

CHENEY WARNS U.S. ON ENERGY

AP-NY-03-21-01 1946EST

Washington (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney warmed Wednesday that the United States must generate more of its own energy or the country risks power shortages like those in California, but on a national scale.

Cheney cited estimates that the United States will need 1,300 new power plants over the next 20 years - roughly 65 each year to have adequate generating capacity. Plus, he said those plants will need other infrastructure, such as a means of obtaining the coal or gas and transmission lines.

"Our infrastructure in the energy area is very limited." Cheney told MSNBC's "Hardball." "It's very important we get on with this business of making certain we've got enough energy in the future or we will find that the problems in California today are in fact national in scope and affect all parts of the country."

As it is, Cheney said, California's problems are spreading into surrounding states partly because of a Clinton administration order for utilities in those states to sell power to California. "We've got some serious problems there." Cheney Said.

"We've got to find ways to either increase the supply of energy or reduce the demand for energy. This is not something we got into overnight, and we're not going to get of it overnight."

Cheney, chairman of the president's energy task force, was echoing concerns voiced earlier this week by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who said to failure to address energy supply problems stands to threaten economic prosperity and even national security.

The vice president said the task force's recommendations would focus on long-term solutions, but an important part will focus on the environment.

"In many cases, in recent years, we've had an approach that isn't balanced because it's been so easy to stop projects," Cheney said. "Nobody wants to be able to see a transmission line from their front yard. Nobody wants a gas pipeline through their community. Nobody wants a power plant in their countyƒ.it's going to be very important that we change the circumstances if we're going to move forward."

Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov

AP-NY-03-21-01 1946EST

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.

[randita]

Cheney and Bush were out front on this issue, but Democrats charged that execs from private power companies (Enron) advised them on their energy policy and have since blocked every effort to pass a major energy policy bill.

[Starboard]

"It's very important we get on with this business of making certain we've got enough energy in the future or we will find that the problems in California today are in fact national in scope and affect all parts of the country."

The Clinton "legacy" continues. Just as he neglected to deal with the terrorism problem, Clinton failed to address the energy problem. So much for building a bridge to the 21st century.

[ventana]

Yeah, and what about the high speed railroad that was gonna run across the country? What a bunch of windbags they were!

[anniegetyourgun]

"....failure to address energy supply problems stands to threaten economic prosperity and even national security." 3/21/01

[OldFriend]

BTTT

[tomball]

All this power grid stuff really got its start in the 90s when power brokers were gobbling up local power plants across the country. FirstEnergy's parent company is Canadian based, and they own power companies on a global scale. Why this is not, nor has it ever been a the national security issue is beyond comprehension. No one seems to know where the power outage began.

No one in Ohio should be without power because some power source in Canada (or any other foreign country) went down.
Did FirstEnergy ever get federal approval for linking its power grid with Canada? How does our government know whether or not Canadian power companies meet the criteria of our government regulations?

Since no one seems to know where or how the massive power outage was caused, what is to prevent this from happening again? Not only are the power companies tied together via power grids, they are also tied together by computers. What if this was all a computer glitch? If a virus can wipe out my hard drive, what is protecting the power companies from the same?

[Mo1]

As it is, Cheney said, California's problems are spreading into surrounding states partly because of a Clinton administration order for utilities in those states to sell power to California. "We've got some serious problems there." Cheney Said.

Well this might explain why Hellary was on EVERY news station last night blaming it on Bush

[OXENinFLA]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020423-15.html

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 23, 2002

Remarks by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to the Electronics Industries Alliance

Grand Hyatt Hotel Washington, D.C.

GOVERNOR RIDGE:

"Terrorists can sit at one computer connected to one network and can create worldwide havoc -- don't necessarily need bomb or explosives to cripple a sector of the economy, or shutdown a power grid. All a terrorist needs is a weapons of mass destruction."

[Mo1]

PING!

[prairiebreeze]

Yep. I remarked last night that she was rearing her ugly head so often because she either a) smelled blood or b) felt that the best defense was a strong offense.

Prairie

[familyofman]

From what I've seen so far, this was not a supply problem. It seems to have more to do with old equipment and failed systems to prevent the wide-spread problem. Increasing power generating capability is important, but insuring the delivery system(s) can handle the load is equally important.
After 2 years why can't the POTUS & GOP-controlled Congress get anything done - are they only blowing hot air, or what? We need to demand answers - not finger pointing.

[Solson]

The energy situation in this country is okay but rapidly getting worse. The blame lays at the feet of

1. - Environmentalists.
2. - NIMBY-ism - Not In My Back Yard
3. - The energy consumer and regulatory agencies which have not allowed utilities to raise their rates to reflect investment in their assets.
4. - The Utility companies because of their move to deferred maintenance or fix when fail approach to their assets...and the fact they hemorrhage money in the most assinine ways possible.

That's all...

[faithincowboys]

Also, Bubba the terrible did nothing after the major West Coast outage in 96. The Liberals never get their records exposed-- the mainstream media sees to that. Hillary and Gray Davis were positively grotesqu on Larry King last night. What terrible public masters they are. Their partisanship was thicker than Hillary's ankles. Totally disgusting!

[gore_sux]

Nice find. I'm trying to get the word out on this to my local radio shows.

[Mo1]

After 2 years why can't the POTUS & GOP-controlled Congress get anything done - are they only blowing hot air, or what? We need to demand answers - not finger pointing.

We haven't had a GOP control in all of those 2 years . Remember Jump'n Jeffords

Plus without 60 votes, the Dems are blocking almost everything.

From what I understand the energy bill is sitting in conference

[slowhandluke]

The US-Canada link predates the 90's.

I was working at Northern States Power in Minneapolis around 1980 and had a discussion with one of the engineers about the DC (Direct Current) link at the east end of the Great Lakes. The powerflow tools used to model current flows would error out or never stop when attempting to model a complete loop of current around the lakes.

In real life, when a AC circuit was tried, it could never be kept in synch. The moral was to trust the code, but then I was talking to the engineer who wrote the code.

I'd guess the link around the Great Lakes was built in the late 70's.

[cq]

And now it happened in NY, Canada, Detroit and Ohio!

[Deb]

The problem is with congressional Democrats, unbelievable regulations, environmentalists and "community activists". They have managed to stop any expansion of new energy plants and relay stations.

This is obstruction that has been going on for ages and is the main reason for California's crisis. Davis sold his support to the bad guys and refused to build new plants. From what the guy said who came on Larry King after Hillary...that's the main problem in the blackout.

[nutmeg]

bttt

[Lady In Blue]

ping