Behold the politician at work.
While Governor Gray Davis is not singularly responsible for California’s energy crisis, he appears to be exerting great effort to exhibit the most disgraceful behavior as a result thereof.
Early on, and for a while, he blamed the incoming Bush administration for the crisis because the new president, practicing a resolute commitment to principle (and a bit of political payback, to be sure), refused to rescue the self-absorbed state from problems of its own making. Then, as Davis’ personal poll numbers drooped like an unsprayed pompadour in a greenhouse, the governor turned to an even easier set of targets – those greedy, private, capitalist energy companies.
After weeks of demagoguery, Davis received the conspiracy theorist’s equivalent of the Gift of the Magi – whistleblowers. Three of them, all Duke Energy plant workers, who could no longer live with their consciences or not being on television, all telling a tale of the company’s dreadful manipulation of energy output for money. Duke Energy supplies about five percent of California’s electricity.
The three whistleblowers talked to the media. They appeared at a hearing. They were invited to breakfast – but not dinner – with the governor. For all we know, they could have also been presented with the keys to Berkeley, provided a private tour of Bakersfield and had their time cards auctioned on eBay.
Their story was detailed and electrifying. It fit the governor’s needs. It fit media needs. It fit the stereotype of corporate villainy.
It just wasn't the whole story. As it turns out, there is a California state agency – the California Independent System Operator, it is called – which dictates power supply for the state power grid. That agency now says it told Duke Energy how much power to provide during the period in question.
Why didn’t the agency testify at the hearing at which the Duke Energy employees made their accusations? The agency was not asked.
The Duke Energy whistleblowers may be partially forgiven because accurate understanding of the power output shifts was way above their pay grade, although why they did not ask company executives for an explanation before going public is an open question.
The bureaucrats of the California Independent System Operator may be partially forgiven for not correcting the record sooner if they misapplied a golden rule of obedient children and bureaucratic survivors – to speak only when spoken to.
That leaves Governor Davis and the media.
The governor’s position bloody well requires that he know how the state energy system works before he goes popping off about the guilt of others. If he truly didn’t know, then he needs a new staff. If he did, then California needs a new governor.
Much should be said about the media’s role in this, but it won’t do much good. The arrogant barons of the Fourth Estate are already held in fairly low esteem by the public, and even that degenerates daily. That might ordinarily amuse us, but, as a recent poll by the First Amendment Center of the Freedom Forum indicates, public disgust with the press is taking a toll on public respect for the First Amendment.
The people of California must take responsibility for Governor Davis. All of us must take responsibility for preserving the First Amendment, starting with those whose livelihoods depend upon it. September 2001