A busy news day, this January 17, 2001.
California declared another electricity emergency Tuesday as some plants fell short of natural gas and its two largest utilities edged perilously close to insolvency. State power regulators declared a Stage 3 power alert, anticipating electricity reserves below 1.5 percent for the second time in less than a week. Unusually high demand for natural gas, due in part to cold weather, led San Diego Gas and Electric to cut supplies to two power plants, contributing to the electricity alert.
The utility said there was plenty of natural gas, but not enough space in 1 the pipeline to meet its customers’ needs. To maintain the supply for its home and small business users. the utility cut the flow to the two power plants and six large industrial customers. Rolling blackouts were avoided after huge state pumps that move water from Northern California to the south were turned off temporarily, conserving enough electricity to power 600,000 homes, said Kellan Fluckiger, chief operating officer of the Independent System Operator. But imports were running about half of what they were last week when California narrowly avoided blackouts, Fluckiger said. Then, about 4.200 megawatts was coming into the system from elsewhere. mostly the Pacific Northwest.
Meanwhile, President-elect George W. Bush bid farewell to Texas as he boarded a plane, heading for Washington and his inauguration after a campaign-style rally in Midland Texas. Bush promised the folks of Midland that would be back.
And facing a withering attack from Democrats who question his nomination as attorney general, John Ashcroft defended his record on abortion and civil rights on Tuesday and vowed to enforce the laws of the land even if they conflict with his personal convictions. Ashcroft stressed his commitment to enforce the nation’s civil rights laws, said he viewed a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion as “settled law of the land,” and said that his personal philosophy and religious beliefs would not interfere with his ability to carry out his duties if he is confirmed as attorney general. “I understand that being attorney general means enforcing the laws as they are written, not enforcing my own personal preference,” he said, in sworn testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the first day of what promises to be a week of contentious Senate confirmation hearings. “I pledge to you that strict enforcement of the rule of law will be the cornerstone of justice.” Ashcroft said that not only would his faith not interfere with his ability to enforce the law, but it would in fact require him to carry out his constitutional duties if he is confirmed. “When I swear to uphold the law, I will keep my oath, so help me God,” the former senator said, raising his right hand to dramatize the point.
And while California was dealing with blackouts that’s just a little of what went on, this January 17, 2001 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup Late Edition.
