» 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)
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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