[Air-l] WATTAGE WHERE IT'S NEEDED

[Ken Friedman]

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                  Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
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            http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/06/opinion/06ANDE.html

   June 6, 2001


      WATTAGE WHERE IT'S NEEDED

      By ROGER ANDERSON


  President Bush's energy plan, to its credit, takes on in a coherent way
  all of the supply and demand elements that make up the nation's energy
  system, something not attempted since the Carter administration. And as
  the long view demands, the plan calls for a national system of power
  transmission -- a national electricity grid. Our increasing use of
  computers, requiring ever more electricity, makes this grid an absolute
  necessity.

  Historically, demand for electricity jumped after each of three
  technological breakthroughs: lights and motors in the early 1900's, air
  conditioning in the 1950's, and the rise of personal computers and the
  Internet in the 1980's and 1990's. Many Americans are unaware of this
  last enormous surge in electricity use, and the current experience in
  California suggests we are not ready to meet what is sure to be
  continuing growth in demand. But a country with an information-based
  economy cannot afford unreliable supplies of electricity.



            http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/06/opinion/06ANDE.html
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                  Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
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