President Carter ordered an immediate investigation Thursday into New York’s massive blackout, and a federal agent in charge of the probe suggested Consolidated Edison might be at fault. The Federal Power Commission directed its staff to report in two weeks on the causes of the power failure that plunged an area with 10 million persons into almost total darkness Wednesday on one of the hottest and muggiest nights of the summer. Carter said the power failure was “another dramatic reminder of the total dependence of this nation on reliable energy supplies.” The commission said such power failures pose “severe public health and safety problems and are intolerable.” It said the utility company had not done enough since the Northeast power failure of Nov. 9, 1985, to safeguard its customers. “Recent events demonstrate that those preventive measures have been insufficient in the Con Ed service area,” the commission said. However, commission chairman Richard Dunham said he was not implying negligence. He said it was too early to tell the extent of Con Ed’s responsibility for a blackout believed to be triggered by lightning. “There’s no absolute guarantee that it can’t happen anyplace. There’s no way to prevent an act of God,” Dunham said.
In other news – President Carter persisted today in efforts to keep the shooting down of an American helicopter by North Korea leaving three dead and one captured from “escalating into a confrontation.” Carter, performing more as “a president than a commander-in-chief” in one aide’s view, planned to start a weekend at Camp David, Md., even while the Americans and the North Koreans meet tonight at 10 pjn. EDT (11 a.m. Saturday, Korean time) to discuss the incident. Reporters kept a near 24-hour vigil at the White House, although Press secretary Jody Powell said Carter maintained his normal schedule except for longer national security briefings. Carter used a breakfast meeting with Democratic senators Thursday to communicate his belief that “the mistake was made by the crew going into the demilitarized zone.” “Our primary interest is in having the incident not escalate into a confrontation and also to account for the crew members,” Carter said. Speaking for the president at one of several briefings during the day, Powell said the intrusion of North Korean air space “was unintentional and regrettable.”.
And finally, President Carter, determined to have a smooth visit by Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin, is newly upbeat about peace prospects in the Middle East. He has broken his own moratorium on administration statements about the Middle East situation in order to register his personal disapproval of the idea of an independent Palestinian state. It is an obvious effort to reassure the Israelis, who don’t want a Palestinian nation committed to their destruction set up on their border. At the same time, and with advance clearance from Cairo, Carter has divulged portions of a private message from Egyptian President Anwar Sadat indicating conciliation. “There is a general inclination on all parties for success,” Carter told his news conference Tuesday.
He also claimed to detect “an inclination in the Middle East in recent days toward an alleviation of tension.” Only two weeks ago the Carter administration was berating the militant, new Begin government about the head. The State Department publicly notified Israel that it is expected to withdraw on all fronts.
And while New York was slowly recovering, that’s a small slice of what else happened, this July 15th 1977 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
Coffee? Of course:
And you can become a subscriber with Patreon:
