http://www.bushwatch.com/-------------------------------------------------------------------
"In the past two years, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron has discovered a gaping hole in the nuclear reactor at its Davis-Besse power plant, lost a lawsuit brought by the Environmental Protection Agency and announced plans to restate its earnings to correct mistakes in its accounting. Then, over the weekend, investigators identified several power lines owned by FirstEnergy as the likely trigger point for the power failure Thursday that pulled the plug on a large swath of the Midwest, the Northeast and Canada....The nation's fifth-largest power company has also been a lightning rod for criticism. "Historically, their rates are 30 to 60 percent higher than in the rest of the state, and they have admitted to prioritizing profit above maintenance and safety," said Shari Weir, head of Ohio Citizen Action, an environmental group...Long before the recent blackout, the region was the starting point of a still-unresolved, century-long struggle between government and private companies for control of the electrical industry. At the dawn of the 20th century, Cleveland Mayor Tom Johnson helped create one of the nation's first city-owned power companies because, he said, "if you do not own them, they will own you.." , wp
"The top two executives of FirstEnergy Corp., the Ohio-based utility that is a focus of investigations into last week's cascading blackouts, are key financial supporters of President Bush, according to campaign records.... Democrats have questioned whether Bush's administration coddled electric companies because of his long personal ties to the energy industry. FirstEnergy's ties could increase Capitol Hill scrutiny of the White House handling of the blackout aftermath. Bush's campaign had no comment. " , wp
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
