Comments on California's Power Crisis (2000-2002)--California's power crisis occurred in 2000 and 2001. By 2002 the threat of rolling blackouts had effectively passed. However, the consequences for state electricity policy were profound. Much has been written on this "crisis" and on what caused the problems. In 2008 the effects were still being felt in public policy not only in California but als across the country. . .
- California's Power Crisis, A Personal View by Paul Gipe--I've been a resident of California since 1984. I followed utility issues in the state closely until the mid 1990s, as both an advocate of renewable energy and a contractor to the wind energy industry. At that time, the deregulation train was barreling down the track and I didn't want any part of it. So I turned my attention elsewhere. . .
- California Public Utilities Commission on Power Crisis--The report explains California's electric power system before and after deregulation, and examines the origin of the power shortages during the summer of 2000. Despite being couched in dry bureaucratese, the report is a damning indictment of deregulation and its aftermath. For example, the report states "Generators created these deviations in order to be paid a higher price." . .
- JBS Comments on California Power Crisis--This is a technical report by two economists on California's power crisis during the summer of 2000. Marcus is a prominent consulting economist who has persuasively argued that energy conservation has been consistently undervalued in most countries, at least for the 15 years I've known of his work. Here's a brief excerpt from their conclusion. . .
- California's Power Crisis: An Environmentalist's Vision by Paul Gipe--The current power crisis offers an unparalleled, if not unfortunate, opportunity to rethink how we produce, consume, and value electricity in the Golden State. Electricity is a means to an end--a tool for meeting the needs of people--and not an end in itself. We envision a system that is sustainable, a system that meets the needs of people today as well those of future generations. . .
- My Take on the Power Crisis or How the Anchovies Were Fed to the Sharks by Paul Gipe--And this brings us to energy policy, for it is in the deregulation fiasco that such attitudes, such disregard for the wellspring of political power--the people--found full flower. . .
10,000 miles per gallon of gasoline: Shell's Ecomarathon
The Cost of the Iraq War and the Lost Opportunities for Development of Renewable Energy (Updated to December 29, 2007)--The United States could now be generating from 1% to 15% of its electricity supply if the direct costs of the Iraq war had been invested instead in wind or solar energy. . .
Impeach, Convict, Arrest, & Imprison George W. Bush--If we don't, the US won't be the country my father fought for in 1945. It will have become one of those countries we fought against, where, years from now, people will ask in disgust, "How could they let that happen, why didn't they stop it?". .
Just War and Iraq--An unprovoked attack on Iraq would be un-American, and a disgrace to fallen American soldiers who gave their lives fighting the Axis powers after an unprovoked attack December 7th, 1941. . .
Tule Fog or Three Strikes and You Could Be Out
Get to Know Your Neighbors