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.cb Energy Statement by California Engineers and Scientists

	

	The undersigned California scientists and engineers have become
increasingly concerned about California's failure to develop adequate
supplies of energy, especially in view of the increasing danger
of a cutoff or substantial reduction in oil supply.

	Seven years have elapsed since the Arab oil embargo emphasized
the need for America to secure its energy supplies.  Since then, instead
of strengthening our position, we have weakened it by delaying
the nuclear plants under construction, preventing the construction
of new plants, hindering the extraction of heavy oil and preventing
the construction of pipelines and refineries.  Alternative energy
technologies have been proposed, but none of them yet seem capable
of producing energy at costs anywhere near those of existing nuclear
and coal technologies.

	The war between Iraq and Iran points up the danger to California's
welfare caused by our failure to take adequate action to ensure energy
supplies.  California is one of the most vulnerable states in case of
an oil cutoff emergency for three reasons.

	#. We are the most populous state in the union, so our energy
demands are large.

	#. We have no coal, and we use more oil than any other state
for the production of electricity.

	#. We also depend heavily on water power for electricity, and
the amount available has been sharply reduced in dry years.  (how much?)

	#. While California was one of the first states to use nuclear
energy to produce electricity, and the electorate reaffirmed this
use in the 1976 referendum, the starting of new plants has been
effectively blocked by the State Government.

	#. California has the most cars of any state and is uniquely
dependent on them for transportation.  We use the most gasoline of
any state.

	#. Because of the opposition to all presently practical forms
of energy production by various pressure groups,
 California increasingly relies on imported energy
including electricity.  We import water and nuclear power from the
northwest, and we import coal produced power from Arizona, Utah
Colorado and New Mexico.  While the State Energy Commission proposes
further electricity imports, it has become increasingly difficult
to persuade other states to help a state that won't help itself.
Moreover, when future energy shortages develop, they'll meet their own
needs first.

	#. The California political process has blocked many attempts
to produce more energy.

	#. State energy rhetoric concentrates its main
hopes on unconventional energy sources, solar, wind and biomass, that are
unlikely to have a substantial payoff before the end of the century, if
then.

	California is only one state in one country in the world.
Our energy options are mainly the same as those of other states
and other countries.  However, part of our energy vulnerability
is local and is susceptible of local remedies.  The most important
of these is electricity.  Our most important option is to develop
nuclear power faster than is provided for in the current plans of the
utilities or the State Energy Commission.  The problem is not energy
capacity but the use of oil.  We need to replace existing oil burning
plants by nuclear plants.  Coal would also work, but its pollution
problems are likely to be especially severe in California, and we
would have to develop the facilities for transporting it from  other
states.

	Our natural gas supply is adequate at present, but it is important
to remember that much of the rest of the country uses oil for heating
in a much colder climate than ours.  In case of an oil supply cutoff,
we will again have to share our present gas supplies coming from Texas
with the Eastern part of the country.

	If we can generate enough electricity, we can hope over time
to replace some of our use of gas by electric heat pumps.  These
are especially efficient in our mild climate.  Heat pumps are not
worthwhile as long as we are generating electricity by burning oil.
The decontrol of natural gas prices will make electric heat pumps
relatively more economical than they are now.

	We are more vulnerable than many parts of the country to
gasoline shortages because of our spread-out cities.  Our case for
adequate gasoline supplies will be much stronger if we stop using
oil for generating electricity.

	We scientists and engineers are convinced that the
problems of the safe use of nuclear energy have been solved - not perfectly
but well enough so that the risk of our increasing energy vulnerability is far
greater than the risk of nuclear energy.  This includes the problems
of plant safety and waste disposal.  While the costs of nuclear plants
have increased faster than inflation, the price of oil has gone up
even faster, so that nuclear energy is the most economical source
of electricity by an even larger margin than previously.

	It is especially important to put the already completed Diablo
Canyon plants into operation promptly and to complete the San Onofre
plant.  Each year delay in operating Diablo Canyon costs the average family
in the PGα&E service area α$200 in increased utility bills.

	The problem of financing new power plants needs to be solved.
The bad news is that we are going to have to pay for
more and more of our electricity at the present cost of building
plants.  The longer we put it off, the more it will cost, and the
greater the danger of a serious disruption of our lives.

	The new national administration will put great emphasis on
energy production and will encourage action by the states.  We
California engineers and scientists urge that California take the
lead in using nuclear energy.
	#. The Iraq-Iran war and other Middle Eastern events emphasize
America's increasing vulnerability to a cutoff of imported oil.
California uses more oil for producing electricity than any other
state and also uses more for automobiles on which we depend more
than most states.