" Matthew, we tried having the government regulate the energy production during Governor Wilson's term. It was a total failure with prices skyrocketing and energy companies "gaming" the flawed system.

We do need some government insurance provisions in order to get more nuclear power plants built. "

" The necessity for increased levels of energy correlate directly with population growth. We continue dialogue about how to produce more and more, clean or otherwise, sources of energy. Even if we could reduce the existing number of people on planet Earth through education, planned parenthood etc., it still wouldn't be enough. There are too many people for the level of naturally available energy. We need to address that problem before developing unsafe sources of energy, or even "safe" sources of energy which will require a great deal of maintenance to continue smooth and effective operation. Over population is an expense we cannot afford forever. At some point, and no one knows "when" there will be a downward slide which will start at the top and grab every one below on it's way down. We're heading there now. Any discussion about alternative or other forms of energy extraction should be accompanied by dialogue about over population. "

" kevin, as usual has his facts totally wrong.

California State utility regulation was overridden by Bush/Cheney's FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) after Cheney had steered a law written for ENRON lobbyists through the Republican congress.

Wilson and California state regulators could do nothing but watch as the entire state of California was ripped off in the first domestic test of disaster capitalism.

The email traffic with attachments (160+ gigabytes of it) between the conspirators was made a part of the public record in a lawsuit by an electrical coop in Washington state.

The public may have heard the nugget about ENRON traders crowing about stealing Aunt Tillie's retirement but probably does not know the quote came from ENRON's own files.

I have downloaded those 160+ gigabytes of that ENRON email traffic and it's a gold-mine of Republican skullduggery.

Of course, California was just a tiny proving ground for disaster capitalism because the crooks only raked in some $9-10 billion.

Hank Paulsen ripped off $700 billion in the latest excercise of disaster capitalism, transferring private debt to the US treasury.

But Republican parrots still have slogans to chant. "Regulation BAD!"

~Ruff "

" vocal -

Right now, the only folks working harder to cover up their dirty tricks than the Bushite-Republicans are the petroleum and coal industries and the healthcare denial industry.

The media are their accomplices, and NOT our friends.

I visited a home in Sebastopol last weekend that has had a solar photovoltaic array on their roof for nearly three years. They have generated more power than they have consumed since the first day it was installed.

PG&E has the game rigged so that they do not get paid for the excess power but must instead give it to PG&E for free. Germany makes the power companies buy that excess power, and that helps finance the installation.

Scientific American magazine recently said that America could switch entirely to solar electric power and save trillions. But because of political bribes and a media blackout all we hear about is this phoney CNG scam.

Energy is not humanity's problem, unrestrained greed, ignorance and poverty are.

And educating women is the solution to poverty, along with the problem of the human birth rate.

Educated women teach their children to read, they also do birth control on their own. In the wealthy countries the birthrate has fallen to where immigration is what keeps the population from falling.

Most of humanity's wounds are self-inflicted.

~Ruff "

" If we pass restrictive laws on us because of some stupid guilt complex we will punish our economic system and place the rest of the world in an advantageous position. Environmentalists and green freaks are attemption to destroy our country and our economy. And "You", the next generation may get a job if the Chinese and Indians decide they need more slaves. "

" LOL. I remember when Wilson signed the Legislation that FORBID PGE from raising the rates they charged consumers while at the same time allowing energy producers to charge market rates.

I remember thinking that the ONLY thing more stupid would be for banks to lend money to people who couldn't pay it back.... "

" Ruff, I'm for alternative energy. I think people need to also take ownership and become more self sufficient. Alternative energy is the way to go. My point is that yes, we need alternative energy but we also need to discuss population. And does it really matter whether all the women who exist in the U.S. today are reproductively responsible if people continue pouring over the borders to populate a country who is trying to be responsible? There's more to the population issue than just education. It also involves cultural and religious views. "