Why? Because we're very well down this process as it is - flawed as it is - and we're counting on getting more power plants on line by the end of 2003 so we have a surplus of power.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
We are putting more and more power into a system which is less and less able to carry it reliably.
Now, in the space of a year, we've spent 450 percent more for power than we did the year before, and bought essentially the same amount of power. This year, that number's likely to go up. That can't go on forever and have us continue to be the economic engine for America.
And we have abundant natural energy resources in the country. We haven't been taking adequate advantage of them, and we can burn coal in a clean way; we could improve the grid.
The demand for electricity to have a strong, growing economy is too great to be simply offset by more conservation.
You don't build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build.
We can, and must, shift to an economy in which 100% of our electricity is generated renewably.
Meanwhile, people have to join us and fight back against the federal government that has dropped the ball, that is in bed with these energy companies, that wants them to make more money than they've made before.
The more energy-efficient we become as a nation, the less we need to develop additional energy sources.
We've got to take care of the resources we have on this planet, because there's no resupply possible.
We started focusing on this in earnest late summer and early fall. I can build more power plants. In the 12 years before us, not a single plant of major consequence was built.