The lights are on, but nobody's home Michael Welch c.1992 Michael Welch I am mad as hell, and you should be too! We, the people of America, are in a downward-spiralling situationÄwe are losing control of our government. A case in point is our president's National Energy Strategy (Tragedy) and the bills that the U.S. Senate and our House of Representatives passed in order to shape energy policy. We need a national energy policy, but I am sad to report that much of these new bills go against public opinion. Our national energy policy is being unduly influenced by special interest groups with financial stakes in the energy industry. Many citizens are feeling disempowered by their inability to have an effective voice in government. Many have stopped voting entirely. In the meantime, lobbies like those for the nuclear power industry, the oil industry and the automobile industry are spending millions of dollars to get direct access to our legislators in Washington. The fact that more and more people are giving up their voting influence on our legislators boosts the relative leverage of special interests. This, again, makes voters feel even less effective which then gives special interests a still larger share of the power which then... A downward spiral is created. This makes our government less and less responsive to the wants and needs of the citizens and puts it further in the pockets of special interest groups. It is likely that our next president and many lawmakers will be elected by an extremely small percentage of eligible voters. Vote a Revolution There is only one way to deal with it: revolution. Yes, a voting revolution. We all need to register and vote our convictions. With our ballots we need let our "leaders" know that we will not tolerate them mucking around with things as important as the National Energy Policy and other significant issues. We can also influence our lawmakers by direct contact. Many legislators count very carefully the phone calls and letters they receive from their constituents. Politicians assume that every message they receive expresses the same opinion as a hundred other constituents who did not or could not send a similar message. This means that just by calling, your voice will count as a hundred voices! Back to our case in point. Years of grass roots organizational effort forced the Reagan and Bush administrations to finally write a National Energy Strategy setting the direction of America's energy future. In spite of those two administrations' strong ties to the oil, nuclear, and automobile industries, I hoped that the opinions of the majority of citizens would prevail. I hoped that the N.E.S. would be a visionary document leading us toward a sustainable and clean energy future. Fat Chance After Bush's horribly slanted N.E.S. came out, hope was laid in the hands of our legislators. A bad bill (Johnston-Wallop, Senate Bill 2166) came out in the Senate, and after hearings, an outpouring of public opposition, a filibuster killed it last fall. Citizens and environmental groups alike stepped back to catch a breath. Then suddenly the bill was reintroduced with some concessions. Although some of the concessions were very important to the environment, many serious defects in the bill were left intact. The bill was placed on the fast track, and within a short period of time and before opposition could be reorganized, it was passed. Then an energy bill (House Energy Bill H.R. 776) was introduced into the House of Representatives. H.R. 776 looked much better than the Senate version. At least until the our legislators, and the special interest groups that sway them, got hold of it. The nuclear industry was able to obtain language in the bill that would significantly decrease the public's involvement in future nuclear power plant hearings. This bill would allow the Federal Government to overrule states' laws and rights in the siting of nuclear waste facilities. The next step for these two bills is a Conference Committee where differences will be hammered out by representatives of each House. There is not much that can be done to influence the process at this point. It is almost strictly a matter of combining the two bills through a series of meetings and back-room deals. In spite of public opinion, these bad laws were passed on our behalf. And public opinion was not unknown to our representatives. Surveys show that 79% of the public was in favor of retaining the nuclear power plant hearings that these bills take away. Eighty-one percent of the public believes that states' rights should not be stripped away in the siting of nuclear waste facilities, yet these bills will do just that. Only 11% wants the nuclear industry to receive the highest funding priority to meet our future energy needs. Only 5% thinks our primary future energy source should be oil. Yet our president and lawmakers bend over backwards to make sure that unwanted and polluting technologies get the most money and attention. Sixty-three percent of the public believes that the United States can meet future energy needs by increasing efficiency, yet the emerging energy bill will barely touch on efficiency as a viable alternative to building more new power plants. You see how it's going? The public needs to get angry at the way Congress is ignoring its wishes. Next time you read about something that you don't like, take the time to call your representatives, and by all means register to vote and be sure to vote for the good guys, because there really are still a few of them out there. You can make a difference Right now, you can make a difference for the users and future users of home-made electricity. Congress is beginning to consider appropriations, which is how much money they want to spend on each item in the budget. When Congress spends more money on research and development for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and alternative transportation, it means that new and clean technologies for making and storing energy will be developed. Government research means new and more efficient methods of manufacturing RE equipment and efficient appliances will be developed. This translates to more, better, and less expensive products with which to take our homes off-the-grid. Since these decisions are going to be made soon, call your Senators, Congressperson and President today. Ask them to give renewable energy, alternative transportation, and energy efficiency a larger portion of the Department of Energy's Research and Development budget. Also ask them to make more grants and small business loans available to RE entrepreneurs. At the same time, tell them that you are concerned with the energy situation in the U.S. Tell them you will be deciding who to support in upcoming elections based in a large part on the candidates' willingness to back a renewable energy future. Then go out and vote your convictions. Let's take back our government and make it responsive once again. Try to influence politicians' work in areas you feel are important. Give them the positive feedback they deserve when they do something right. Support a reasonable, safe, and renewable energy future. Support the passage of laws that decrease the amount of influence that special interest groups have over our political process. Ask for your Senators by calling 202-224- 3121, your Representatives by calling 202-225-3121, and your President by calling 202-456-1414. Give 'em hell. Access Author: Hi, I'm Michael Welch and my good friends at Home Power Magazine have asked me to write a column about what's happening in political and government arenas with regard to energy issues. They want me to "write from the heart", so you'll get more than just hard facts when you read this column. As a matter of fact, it may get down right radical from time to time. My background is as a community activist in Humboldt County, California, and as the Office Coordinator for Redwood Alliance, an environmental organization that deals almost entirely with energy issues. Redwood Alliance got its start by fighting the reopening of a particularly dangerous nuclear power plant in our local community, and was instrumental in getting it permanently shut down. Since then, Redwood Alliance has spent a lot of time and energy informing the public about the dangers of various unsafe methods of energy production. Then we found Home Power Magazine. Suffice it to say that HP gave myself and Redwood Alliance some new direction. Now, much of our efforts are directed at promoting the use of renewable energy and especially letting people know that they, too, can make their own energy. Toward that end, we are piecing together a solar electricity demonstration facility. We are also hoping to have our Home Power Computer Bulletin Board System ready for demonstration at SEER '92. From this system, a home computer with a modem will be able to look up and obtain any article from past Home Power Magazines, all the way back to HP#1. This computer bulletin board will put its users into online contact with many other folks having similar interests and experiences. Redwood Alliance still works on other energy issues, too. Our important current projects include trying to influence the proposed construction of a nuclear waste dump that the nuclear industry is attempting to shove down the throats of residents near Needles, CA and the many California taxpayers that will end up being liable for future problems at the dump site. Redwood Alliance's could use your support very much. We need funds to continue our many projects through this recession. We also need certain home power components to finally get our photovoltaic demonstration up and running. For more information or to make a contribution, contact us at 707-822-7884 or PO Box 293, Arcata, CA 95521. Anyway, you get the idea. I live off the grid, even though PG&E's wires pass my driveway. Redwood Alliance's offices in Arcata will soon be off the grid and consuming electricity made directly from the sun. Self sufficiency is great, and so is thumbing our noses at electricity made with nuclear and other polluting technologies.