Power is back at parts of Manhattan but not all. We have it
on the upper west side. Same at other boroughs of New York.
Niagara Mohawk power grid, which has been reported as the
source of the outage, is denying it. There is still confusion
about what actually happened as distinguished from blaming
the "antiquated" power grid system.
The NY Times says it is the limited transmission capacity
that is the culprit, not insufficient generating capacity, not
wayward computer controls, not antiquation. And that the
deregualted electrical power companies do not want to build
more transmission capacity because that could lead to lower
rates and profits.
Presumably the finger pointing will be resolved by a lengthy
investigation, which is likely to exculpate Bush's buddies in
the energy industry.
However, it is also likely that the outage will be pumped as
an indicator of what a terrorist could do to a "vulnerable"
power system, and thereby qualify the power industry for
counterterrorism funding for security countermeasures
that will assure protection from industry critics -- thus
invoking the Cheney Effect.
What would be unsurprising is to learn that the outage
was due to negligence, perhaps willful, of the grid operators,
who could believe the time was ripe to get the nation's
sympathy for new power plants, particularly nuclear, and
public subsidy of additional transmission systems. Those
signals are loud and clear in the Times today.
Reduction of energy use, and re-regulation of the electric
industry, have not yet been advocated by political leaders.
What a pleasure it was to again see people take over the
streets of New York, bringing space-hogging and -polluting
vehicles to a standstill. Best was the cell-phones going
out though that didn't stop users from urgently beseeching
the dead.
Today, an awful lot of people have taken the mayor's suggestion
to treat this a snow day and skip work. Being ex-self-employed,
rich, indolent, an emulator of the mayor and the president, for
me every day is a snow day.
--
The Design-L list for art and architecture, since 1992...
To subscribe, send
mailto:design-l-subscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To signoff, send
mailto:design-l-unsubscribe-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Visit archives:
http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html