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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1979)
» 2 Portland Observar Thursday. May 24,1872 EDITORIAL/OPINION Public needs hearings John Lobdell, recently appointed Public Utilities Commissioner by Governor Atiyeh, came to Adams High School to promote his plan to grant utility rate increases without formal public hearings. The performance of Lobdell and his staff made a good case for the need for public hearings. The staff presented charts demonstrating percentage rate increases, w hich they ad m itte d w ere s o m ew h at m isleading. They presented no specific information to show a need for a rate in crease and left the "dollar figures" at the office. Throughout the meeting, Lobdell attempted to promote the hearings as an either - or situation. Either have these friendly chats with the Com missioner, when facts and philosophies can be shared or accept an impersonal, cold, formal hearing where the public is represented by its at torneys. Either meet with the Commissioner face- to-face, or have him stay in his office and let the administrative law judge make the decisions. Clearly this was a deceptive ploy designed to influence the public to willingly give up their right to public hearings. PUC hearings are conducted like court hearings. Witnesses testify under oath, are required to present facts and answ er questions, and have to defend their point of view. The public hearing process is the only way for the public to obtain facts, to examine the utilities' expenses and expenditures, and to influence the rate structure. That the informal meetings Lob dell tried to sell the public would not serve this purpose was aptly demonstrated by the Com missioner and his staff. For these decisions to be made behind closed doors is a travesty of justice and will only serve to bring more distrust of the utilities and of the PUC. The real issue is due process. Support SB 957 Senate Bill 957 would prevent investment of • state money in any company that practices or -condones discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, or sex. The purpose is to stop investments in companies that do business with ¿South Africa. This bill is necessitated by an attorney General's opinion which says that investment of The state's funds must be made according to Economic criteria and not political or social con siderations. That decision followed the State .Board of Higher Education's vote to divest itself :-of investments in companies doing business in <&outh Africa. The Black leaders of South Africa have long called for an economic boycott of that country, claiming that withdrawal of American invest ments would bring economic chaos and force the country to change its apartheid laws and practices. Although many American corporate heads claim their investments improve the living standards of Blacks, Black South Africans say they are willing to suffer in return for an oppor tunity for freedom. Although specifically directed at South Africa, this bill has wider application. It forbids the state to invest in any company that practices or con dones discrimination. This could mean any com pany or organization found guilty of discrimina tion by the federal government or by state or federal courts. And if the issue were pushed, it would prevent state investment in many of the nation’s and the state's major corporations. This is a good bill and should be supported by all groups who are the targets of discrimination. A public hearing will be held at the capitol on May 28th at 8:30 a.m . Health care a right Health care is a basic human right. No person should have to suffer or die because he cannot afford medical care. The United States and South Africa are the only industrialized nations in the world that do not have national health care programs — 61 other industrial countries do have well installed plans. The idea of national health care is not new; it was initiated by the Chinese centuries ago. It was adopted in Germany in 1883, Canada adopt ed its successful program in 1968. The need is great. Medicare pays for only 38 percent of the health costs of the elderly. One- third of the poor are excluded from Medicaid. In 1975 47.4 million (22.7 percent) Americans had no private health insurance. Medicaid costs are increasing rapidly. The average income of doctors ($63,000) is higher and is raising faster than any other professional group. Health care is now the nation's third largest industry, costing $730 per person ($162 billion total). Health costs are doubling every five years. Health expenditures make up 8.8 percent of the gross national product. Federal expendi tures for health care were estimated to be 58.7 billion in 1978 and will nearly double by 1983. The only way to provide adequate health care and preventative m edicine for the Am erican people is through a universal health insurance plan — operated by the federal government. ¿¡Letters to the Editor I was sorry to see the Urban Lea gue and other Black individuals become pan of the City’s Inner North east In d u s tria l C ou n cil, which is using C E D ’s m oney. This is especially bad because several Black organizations are suing the C ity about how it is spending the C E D ’s money, it would have been far better if the Urban League and others had waited for the suit to be resolved, they should have shown at least that much respect for the efforts o f the Forgot Indira Gandhi T o the Editor: This letter is in reference to N. Fungai Kum bula’s article titled " B ri tain inches to the right.” Kumbula writes, "S h e (M argaret Thatcher) also becomes Europe’s first woman Prime Minister and only the fourth fem ale p a rlia m e n ta ry head o f a co un try’ s governm ent. The other three are Sirimavo Bandernaike who led Sri Lanka (Ceylon) from I960 to 1965 and again from 1970 through 1974, Isabel Peron o f Argentina who was finally ousted in a military coup and Golda M eir o f Israel.” I would like to bring to your atten tion that Kumbula has neglected to mention Indira Gandhi who was the Prime Minister o f India until the last election. Her involvement with the politics in India is long standing. She also was the parliamentary head of her country’s government. I feel that this matter should be brought to Kum bula’s attention. Sincerely, Sunanda Sen organizations that are suing to en sure that the Black community was not once again played over by the C ity . I understand that the C ity handpicked the ch airm an, L a rry Jackson, and also the Urban League and other individuals. It is too bad those people allow themselves to be used like this. Black people did not chose them to represent the Black community. The N A A C P is one of the organizations that is suing the C ity , why has the U rb an League become a part o f this con game the City is running? It would be better if all the Black people resigned from this sham. • Sincerely, Charles Myrick (E d ito r’s Note: Mr. Hicks o f the N A A C P has informed us that he did not agree to serve on the Committee and that the N A A C P is not repre sented. (See Page / Column I) 1st Place C o m m u nity Service O N P A 1973 PORTLAND OBSERVER The Portland Observer (USPS 960 680! is published every Thurs dev by Exie PuMabmg Compeny, Inc., 2201 North Killmgeworth Portlend. Oregon 97217, Poet Office Box 3137, Portisnd, Oregon 97206 Second cleet postage peid st Portland. Oregon 1st Placa Best A d Results O N P A 1973 Subscriptions »7,60 per yeer in TriCounty aree: »8.00 per year outside Tri-County Aree Postm aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P.O. Box 3137. Portlend. Oregon 97206 The Portland Observer') official position n expressed only m its Editorial column Any other material throughout the paper n the opinion of the individual w riter or subm itter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer ALFRED L. HENDERSON Editor/Publisher 6th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 H onorable M e n tio n H errick Editorial A w ard N N A 1973 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Piece C o m m u n ity Leadership O N P A 1976 N ational A dvertising Representative A m a lg a m ated Publishers. Inc N e w York 3rd Place Community Leadership O N P A 1979 H* IW E fW P /lP fA ? Atsottahan ■ Founded rats by N. Fungal Kumbula The watchword in our energy hun gry world today is O IL . Oil is king. O il keeps industries running and, consequently, countries afloat. Who ever controls oil just about controls the world. Opponents of the apar theid regime o f South A frica had been pressuring o il producing nations to cut o ff oil supplies to South A frica. Repeated efforts at imposing an oil embargo at the U N were thwarted time and time again by the vetoes o f the ‘ leaders* o f the “ Free W orld” ; the U .S ., Britain and France. Before the Ira n ia n revo lu tio n. South Africa used to get 90% o f her oil from Iran. The shah and the apar theid regime were very close — ‘ birds of a feather.’ The other Arab oil pro ducing nations had shunned South Africa because of her close trade and military tics with Israel. Now that the shah is gone and the government is now in the hands o f the people, Iran has cut o ff oil sales to South Africa. Saudi Arabia, always the ‘protec tor’ o f “ Western interests,” had o f fered to take up the slack left by Iran’s departure. Whether or not this has come about is hard to determine because South A fric a 's O ffic ia l Secrets Act prohibits the release o f all oil pertinent information. H ow ever, it is known that South Africa, o f late, has been forced into “ spot buying” which simply means buying her oil from whoever she can around the world generally, at upwards o f 704'# above the normal market price. The oil shortage is so serious that a 50 mph speed limit has been imposed and is rigidly enforced, speeders are fined up to S500, gas stations are closed on weekends, Wednesday a f ternoons and every evening. Another S3.9 billion has been added to the so- Oregon Newspaper I Publishers Association called S A S O L projects. These In volve the conversion o f coal to oil and, guess who’s supplying the tech nology? You got it: another U .S . corporation. Irvine is a small town in Southern California not known for too many things. It is in this small setting that we find our Culprit o f the Decade, a corporation called Fluor. Fluor has operations around the world mostly connected with construction. It was Fluor that built a pumping station and oil terminal for the Alaska pipe lin e , refin eries in B e lg iu m , In donesia, Ira n and o th e r s im ila r projects in England, Saudi Arabia and Korea but, it is in South Africa that it has its most sinister operation to date. As we have already said, oil is South A fric a ’ s one most obvious Achilles heel and the regime lives in the constant shadow o f an imminent United Nations mandated embargo. Having unsuccessfully searched for oil within her borders, she is now turning more and more o f her ener gies and resources to coal gasifica tion. Fluor built the first such coal to oil conversion plant in 1955 and it provides five to ten percent o f South A frica’s energy needs. Currently, Fluor is in the process o f building SASOL I I in the Trans vaal (the first one was called SASOL 1) w h ic h , when com pleted w ill provide up to 50% o f the regime's energy needs. This is a $2.8 billion project. Already in the works are plans for SASOL 111 and SASOL IV and the total cost will be over $6.7 billion. W ith this much money in volved, you can bet your last dollar (it's that safe a b e t!) that F lu o r already has some ready answers for all critics. Paul Etter, vice president for cor porate a ffa irs asked about these Fluor operations which in effect are designed to salvage apartheid in the event o f U N imposed oil embargo, had this inane response: " W e feel our role is not to pop judgements on people. We feel that our role is to build plants.” W ith this kind o f rea soning, Etter would not have seen an yth in g wrong w ith b u ild in g a SASOL type plant for H itler. John Robert Fluor, president o f Fluor is also chairman o f the board o f trustees o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Southern California and also sits on the boards o f several conservative or ganizations. Fluor’s operations in South Africa have hurt the Africans in another more immediately direct way. The SASOL projects require a lot o f coal which is mined mostly by Africans making less than $80 a month. In addition to being grossly underpaid, the miners have no rights whatso ever, they live in bare barracks, working on 12 to 18 month "con tracts” and 60 hour work weeks. They are thus effectively separated from their wives and children. They make $80 a month while Fluor takes in $6.7 billion and yet Etter still has the nerve to say: " W e feel we cannot make judgements . . . ” This Fluor coal g a s ific a tio n process is also suspected o f being carcinogenic. A cco rd in g to John C o n ro y , a freelance writer, with this SASOL project, Fluor has managed to do more to stabilize apartheid than any other single U.S. effort. He goes on to add th at this w o rk proceeds without a squeak o f protest from President C a rte r’ s hum an rights policy formulators. 1 guess I am slowly but finally beginning to accept the fact that dollars and human rights do not mix. LUTHER ""-xl t h a t ' s what h appens during in f l a t io n , PEE WEE ' Lobdell proposes rate hike, no hearings (Continued from page 1 col. 3) Black council members should resign T o the Editor: America's biggest boost to apartheid yet keep us ignorant o f the facts and figures? We need hearings because the com panies are required to provide p ro of.” She said the public needs to know why the rates are spread the way they are between homes, business and industry; why a rebate o f m oney collected a fte r Measure 9 has not been made; how great an investment the company has in nuclear power, which drives costs higher. The 1978 hearings brought out the fact that P P & L is spending huge amounts on political adver tising — against public pow er measures, against anti-nuclear bills, for the Jackson B ill, etc. “ W hat cover-up necessitates such a dangerous precident.” Russ F a rre ll o f the C onsum er Power League, said P P& L charges its W ash in g to n and M o n ta n a customers 24 percent less than its Oregon customers. P ortlan d con sumers pay 140 percent more than public pow er customers in V a n couver. “ The only issue is why the P U C would add 11 percent or 7 per cent to the 140 percent. I t ’s nothing but robbery. . . We need a public utility district.” Ralph Frohwerk o f the Grey Pan thers said the people "p ay through the nose to a private invester-owned monopoly. We are already paying the highest rates in the C olum bia Basin . . . I f P P & L can spend $240 million to buy a telephone company in Alaska, how could they be going broke?” Lobdell said his responsibility is to insure that there is an adequate power supply and that the utilities receive a fair profit. " W e are not talking about increase or no increase. but what is the best possible buy. I cannot p erm it a no increase situation.” Saying that this meeting was very, very h e lp fu l to h im , L o b d ell repeatedly attem p ted to get the audience to give up the public hearing process in favor o f the more inform al meeting. He asked if the audience really wanted to eliminate this forum in favor o f a form al, traditional hearing process where the public cannot speak but must be represented by attorneys. " H o w can bi best represent you? Is the best way to see that the traditional process goes, and that 1 sit behind my desk and let an administrative law judge do it? He was reminded that the public is entitled to both - informal meetings with the Commissioner and the formal hearings. Delay threatens PP&L future (Continued from Page 1 Column 6) would be "probably appropriate” , but H B 2750 is “ not compatable with f)regon’s interest.” Although this is not the time to proceed with Pebble Springs, it also is not the time to close the company’s future options, he said. Frisbee explained that new power supplies are essential to meet the co m p any’s o b lig atio n to provide adequate electricity in its service area. For fifty years, each new plant cost less than the one before. Now, because o f new technology and in fla tio n , each p la n t costs m ore. Power from new plants costs more than the company is able to charge fo r it, th e re fo re , according to Frisbee, P P & L is making no money building new plants. The company would be better o ff to stop growth, but its obligation is to serve the people. The only alternative is to struggle to keep the rates up. " W e struggle as best we can” to get the Public U tility C om m issioner to "struggle as best as he can” against adversaries. Frisbee considers waste storage to be a serious problem. Having been told repeatedly by government agen cies that storage will be available, then having those dates pushed far into the future, Frisbee said he is "terribly discouraged” about the prospects o f storage. He sees safe storage as “ a m ajor issue to the people o f the world.” Asked whether safe storage is o f leg itim ate interest to the Oregon Legislature, Frisbee said that body should study the issue with qualified technicians, but that the fin a l decision should rest with the national government. Although Oregon can make some decisions, it should not "cut yourself o ff from the rest o f the w orld.” Asked if P P& L had the option to recover its investment in Pebble Springs, it would withdraw from the project, Frisbee said it is too early to make that decision. Death penalty (Continued from page I col. 4) testimony. The chart showed that the states with the highest homicide rates wete those with the death penalty and the states w ith the lowest homicide rates were those without the death penalty. The bill is sponsored by Senators Ed Fadeley and Ted Hallock. PREECA T A LO G For a tree government catalog listing more than 21)0 helpful booklets, write: Consumer information Center. Dept B. Pueblo Colorado HIOt 19
