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Bernard Rapoport is a member
of the Board of Contributors,
Central Texans who write columns regularly for the
Tribune-Herald. He is
chairman emeritus and founder of American Income Life
Insurance Co Also he is
past president of the Board of Trustees for the University
of Texas, creator and director of the Bernard and Audre
Rapoport Foundation (which give funds to improve education,
health, culture and citizenship for America and the world),
and a dear friend of peace. His ideas have been sought by
American presidents, foreign ambassadors and statesmen, and
leaders of industry and finance. He is a man of great wisdom
and a lover of peace.
Of coal-powered plants and monopolies
Waco
public needs to own
utilities in order to protect itself
I don't know anyone who has
believed in or has benefited more from the capitalistic
system than me. I'm appreciative of the benefits afforded
by this system.
When I was in high school,
I was on the debate team.
One of the topics for debate was "public ownership of public
utilities." That was then. And now?
What's happening in Texas
— even under the coin of "deregulation" — is that major
utilities are in the gradual process of becoming a
monopolistic industry for all practical purposes. And the
rates have gone sky
high. Deregulation that yields the old monopolies?
Didn't deregulation mean taking market share away from
them? Yes, but just watch. In fact, monopoly is the end
game of capitalism, if not controlled.
We should control it.
The families of Texas will suffer under monopolies' hands.
They won't suffer in Austin
and San Antonio, which have
municipally owned
utilities, or a few regions in the state that
managed to be exempted
from deregulation.
I suggest that Waco
give strong consideration to
implementing public ownership of utilities. The deregulation
mind-set approaches electricity like one might sugar or a
discretionary commodity. But electricity isn't
discretionary.
Monopolies should have no
place in a capitalistic
society where they can determine
the well-being, or the
life and death, of if citizens.
We
talk about the need to be
the land of opportunity.
With skyrocketing gasoline and utilities prices, it's so
very difficult for families to meet these obligations.
The sad part is that
these are areas which are necessary for life itself. Such
matters are where government must assume responsibility so
that these necessities are
available to all
Americans.
We act as if we are truly a
capitalistic country. For
that to be achieved, competition must be the regulator. But
for those areas that trend toward monopoly, such as
utilities, they must be
publicly owned. Will anyone over time be able
to compete with TXU
Energy? And what about Texas' air?
Look at what TXU plans
in the area of building up its electric generation.
See the
headline in The Wall Street Journal:
"As emission
restrictions loom,
Texas utility bets big on
coal.
TXU
contends Texas needs a
lot
more power, and it wants to be the company to provide it.
Critics of its $11 billion construction
program see another motivation: The federal government may
slap limits on carbon
dioxide emissions.
If it does, plants
completed sooner may have a distinct advantage.
That's because the government
may dole out allowances to release carbon dioxide,
and plants up and running when
regulations go into
effect may qualify for more than those built at a
later date."
The Journal reports that
"top executives at many
utility companies have reluctantly accepted
that coal-powered power plants contribute to global
warming, and they have begun planning for a more restrictive
future."
Evidently, TXU is not in
agreement with that conclusion.
Rapoport believes that the free enterprise system where
competition in the business world is allowed and emphasized
is a deterrent against holding the “average citizen” a
hostage in his own land. He believes that economic
competition leads to a better life for everyone and a chance
for peace for all.
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