[Grovenet] LNG issues now entering state-wide debate...

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Thank you Vickie. Excellent presentation by Loretta Lynch, former President
of the California Public Utilities Commission.

Her presentation is the exact opposite of what I have called "nay-saying".
She doesn't say "no", she says, "we can do this instead and it'll be
better." 

For that reason I greatly appreciate your sharing that link. I highly
recommend it to any interested party. 

However, it's worth remembering that Ms. Lynch is a rather controversial
figure in the world of energy management. She served as the President of
California's PUC under the failed leadership of Gray Davis right through the
2000 California "energy crisis" that wiped out the Northwest's aluminum
smelting businesses and raised electrical costs for us all. 

Among her more outspoken critics is Geoff Metcalf who writes of her:

"The appointment of Loretta Lynch as President of the Public Utilities
Commission was clearly for the purpose of protecting the political
vulnerabilities of Governor Gray Davis. She had no experience or expertise
in energy, but was thoroughly experienced in politics and damage control
from the Clinton Whitewater scandal. If the Governor is serious about
finding bi-partisan solutions to the current energy crisis, his first step
should be to secure the resignation from Ms. Lynch and appoint someone who
is competent as PUC President.

"True to her experience with Whitewater, her tenure at the PUC has been
punctuated with half-truths, mistakes, political motivations and
embarrassing ignorance of the basic issues. Not only does she lack the
experience, but she also does not have the temperament to be even a staff
member on PUC matters, let alone the Commission's President." 

http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/loretta_20010329.html

In her presentation I was pleased to see no predictions of explosions
immolating whole cities (although there one quick sweep past a suggestive
graphic, and an opening that says that the California coast as "targeted for
three offshore terminals". As a marketing professional I recognize an
obvious attempt to pander to the public's tendency to panic by the use of
the word "target" ;-)

But Ms. Lynch provides interesting claims questioning whether imported gas
is needed.

She claims that the west coast has enough gas domestically (the Rocky
Mountain fields) to carry us far enough into the future to a time when
better alternatives already in the process of being implemented can take
over the growth demands. She claims that even if the predictions are wrong
and we need more energy than domestic gas can provide in the interim, the
energy needed to harvest and transport gas offsets almost all of the
advantages of using gas over domestic coal in high efficiency plants. (That
did leave me with questions about the cost and impact of moving that coal.
Building railroads is a lot more invasive than building a pipeline and they
have a huge energy cost of their own). 

I agree completely with her recommended action. Go to work with our elected
officials to ensure they get the answers. Our lawmakers are the ones who
need to:

1) Validate Ms. Lynch's figures, make their findings public, and form an
energy policy accordingly. 

2) Craft better controls over the energy companies to rebuild credibility
and trust in the minds of the public and our elected officials, especially
after the Enron debacle.

After all, I'm the guy who keeps asking, "How long has it been since you
wrote your legislators?"

Here are a couple of links with more about Ms. Lynch that are perhaps a
little more balanced than Mr. Metcalf's remarks:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/04/26_lynch.shtml

http://www.cmta.net/legsample.php?leg=lynch_loretta


Ron D'Eau Claire 



-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Vickie Madeoneup
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 10:34 AM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] LNG issues now entering state-wide debate...


FYI    another source for information

here is a youtube video called

case against the lng

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iAkJzKqV6I

Vickie