1. In late 2000,
there developed a severe electric power shortage in California.
The cost of a kilowatt-hour of electric power has gone from $5 to $5,000
over
the last year. This situation has resulted in rolling
brown-outs, strained power
facilities, extreme cost increases for natural gas and kilowatts,
near black-out
conditions, and requests from public officials that the public
cut back on usage.
Have you heard about this situation? |
Yes
No |
|
| 2. Should the
Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric utilities have been allowed to file for bankruptcy
protection? |
Yes
No |
|
| 3. Should the
Federal Reserve Bank of the United States intervene and arrange billions of dollars in
banks loans to Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric utilities? |
Yes
No |
|
4. California's
electric power shortages are characterized as "the result of deregulation."
Some economists believe that California did not deregulate ---
it half-deregulated ---
when it capped what customers can be charged by utilities, but did not cap
what utilities can be charged by their suppliers. Do you agree
with these economists
who call it one-sided deregulation? |
Yes, and I knew that
No, that's what's called
'Cal-dereg' |
|
| 5. If bank loans
were taken on by the utilities how would they pay back those billions of dollars? |
They
wouldn't be able to pay the loans back
Your answer |
|
| 6. The
cause of the power shortage is complex and convoluted. Which factors are especially
relevant causes? |
No new power generating facilities built in over two decades
No
nuclear power plants licensed in decades
Deregulation
of electric utilities
There are many new devices in common use requiring electricity
Cold winter drawing on natural gas supplies for heating
Lack of a national and regional comprehensive energy policy
Politics at its worst
Meddling in markets |
|
| 7.
What should be done immediately to alleviate the electricity shortage? |
State government takeover of generating facilities &
selling of output at below market prices
Federal government takeover of generating facilities &
selling of output at below market prices
Enforce mandatory cutbacks in usage by all citizens
Use
rolling brown-outs as much as necessary
Use
rolling black-outs as much as necessary |
|
| 8. What
should be done to prevent future electricity shortages? |
Build nuclear powered
generating plants
Build more
natural gas burning generating plants
Buy electricity from Russia
Ship massive
quantities of candles to California |
|
| 9. If
you selected the 'candle' option in the previous question, what do you think will happen
to the price of candles across the Northern Hemisphere? |
Prices will go down
Prices will go up
A shortage of candles
may soon develop |
|
10. Nearby states normally sell electricity to
California and today can get high market prices for that electricity. Should these
states ignore the market prices -- and profits -- and sell to California at much lower
prices to be 'considerate' of their neighbors' needs?
|
Yes
No |
|
| 11. The
electricty shortage is causing businesses to shut down (lose revenue and reduce
productivity) and employees to lose income and spend more for electricity. Do you
think the effects of this shortage could cause a recession in California? |
Yes
No |
|
| 12. Californians
are experiencing first-hand the results of the environmentalists winning the war against
progress and the resulting shortage of electricity. Literally, their lights are
going out, their computers cannot operate, their lattes cannot percolate. Do you
think Californians will ever understand that there needs to be a rationale, long-term
balance between their desire to save every tree and insect and society's need to progress? |
Yes
No |
|
| 13. Californians
freely chose price controls and other techniques typical of socialism when they enacted
their special version of deregulation. |
Agree
Disagree |
|
| 14. When
California's socialists suffer from electricity shortages and droughts, should they be
bailed out by successful capitalists from other states? |
Yes
No |
|
15. I am:
|
Female
Male |
|
| 16. My age group is: |
Under 20
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70
& older |