The American Spectator

A Real Wake-Up Call br> People dealt with the widespread blackout in Ohio, New York, Detroit and parts of Canada with the kind of weary, “what else can go wrong?” reaction summer brings. The calm, good-natured response of most people is a testament to the adjustments we have all made since 9-11. There is a faint glimmer in the air of the common bond Americans shared before the Vietnam era. Maybe the Gipper was premature. Now it really is morning in America. In the blackout, people helped each other, and instead of hanging Michael Bloomberg in effigy (which must be left to New York cigar smokers, now in hiding) everyone seemed so grateful that terrorists weren’t responsible. But for tall the good cheer, this blackout proved a major vulnerability we have to end. /p>

As usual, Mr. Bush got it right by calling the blackout a “wake-up call.” But it’s more than that. One of the biggest reasons that old Gray-out Davis made such a hash of the California budget was his decision to buy at short-term rates some very expensive electricity from other states. California — itself the height of enviro-whacko irresponsibility — hasn’t built a power plant in over a decade. Forget nukes. The Marin County Mafia and the Hollywoodenheads have conspired to prevent the construction of any power plants at all.

The blackout was so widespread because the power grid is dependent on so few sources of electricity. The grid is nothing more than a network for distributing power. It creates none. Worrying about the power grid is diverting attention from the basic problem. Even with the best power grid, you are only moving someone else’s electrons around. Generating more electricity is the only real answer.

As usual, the Dems and the bureaucrats — in this case, the jerks from FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — want to impose a grid system like the one that cascaded to blackouts last week on regions of the country where power is cheap and pretty reliable, like the South. What they would do is force low-cost suppliers to make up for the lack of generation of power in places where it is high-cost, like the Northeast. Better to scrap FERC, and give the states real incentives to build the power plants they desperately need, both nuke and non-nuke.

There are too many directions in which that thought must be pursued. We cannot fail to provide adequate and reliable power, for our national security — both physical and economic — depend on it. The enviro-whackos who prevent power plants from being built, and who have essentially banned nuclear power from any growth in America, will have to be outvoted and outfought in Congress and the states. Even then, building power plants will cost enormous amounts of money, which will bankrupt state and federal budgets unless corresponding spending reductions are made in other programs. The choice is between cutting the nanny government down to size, or seeing the most urgent priorities fall prey to the political whims of the Libs. Ain’t it always?