Current Issues

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Proposed Merger of Puget Energy & Foreign Infrastructure Investors.  World Water Resources and "The Power of Community".  Immigration Studies.  Can Your Government Really Work For You?.  League of Women Voters of Washington.  League of Women Voters of the United States.

Proposed Merger of Puget Energy & Foreign Infrastructure Investors

Public Hearing of Proposed Merger & Rates Increase of PSE. Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission (WUTC) will hold a public hearing to allow public commentary on a proposed merger to transfer ownership of Puget Energy and its subsidiery Puget Sound Energy to an international collection of infrastructure investors. The new ownership will be comprised as follows:
1. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners - 31.8%
2. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board - 28.1%
3. Macquarie Capital Group Ltd. - 15.9%
4. British Columbia Investment Management Corporation - 14.1%
5. Alberta Investment Management - 6.3%
6. Macquarie-FSS Infrastructure Trust - 3.7 percent Please note that 1. Macquarie Infrastructure Partners originates from an investment bank in Australia, and that the two following Macquarie companies (3 & 6), while located in the US, stem from the same original investment bank in Australia. The new owners of Puget Sound Energy and Puget Energy add up to 51.4% Australian owned (albeit not technically since two of the companies are located in the US) and 48.5% Canadian owned. This merger puts our local electrical energy supplies into foreign ownership. Is this what we want? The merger was already signed in October and is pending approval by the WUTC. The public is represented by the Public Counsel Section of the Washington Attorney General's Office. You can contact the office at: Public Counsel Assistant Attorney General 800 5th Avenue, Suite 2000 Seattle, WA 98104-3188

You may make comment to the UTC by:
1. attend the meeting
2. in writing - UTC, PO Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504-7250
3. by telephone at: 1-800-562-6150
4. via UTC web form: http://www.utc.wa.gov/comment

5. by email at: comments@utc.wa.gov

6. by fax at: 360-664-4281

Please reference docket number U-072375 (merger) in your correspondence

The League of Women Voters support protecting the citizen's right to know and facilitate citizen participation in government decision making.

World Water Resources and "The Power of Community"

As a follow-up to our March 15th meeting on Water we have some additional information provided by Dr. John Rawlins.

Here's the information people asked about at the meeting this morning:

The Community Solution group (Yellow Springs, Ohio) website

To order: The Power of Community(Cuba)

They also have other items that might be of interest to some. I've used The End of Suburbia many times for introducing people to peak oil - the focus is on effects expected in the U.S. with its huge emphasis on suburban sprawl development.

Bullock Brothers Farm Home Page

For tour information, click here If you have some space in any of your vehicles, you can bring back some of their nursery products - some of which are very hard to find anywhere. Next time I go to Orcas, it will be with an empty Subaru wagon. :)

Finally, if anyone's looking for websites to learn from or in search of books to read, here's a list that I compiled and add to from time to time: Book List

If people want to read Whatcom Watch online, here's a link for that: Whatcom Watch

In my new monthly series, the most convenient way to read my column is online because of the format. The first recent monthly column began February 2008. The original 11-part essay style series went from September 2006 through August 2007.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to pass on awareness of energy and climate problems and applaud your programmatic efforts. Thanks for doing what you do.

John Rawlins

Immigration Studies

The National League of Women Voters is in the process of studying Immigration. We currently do not have a position on Immigration. For good background information please read the following:

Top 10 Falsehoods regarding Immigration - written by the America Immigration Lawyers Association 2007
Consensus Questions, with Discussion & Background
National ID Cards and Security Against Terrorism
Consensus Question #4 & the Real ID Act of 2005
Read Background Papers by LWVUS - (on bottom right-hand side of webpage) Background Papers
Is Immigration an International Women's Issue?<files/january_08_women_s_issues.pdf>

Clean Elections

Public Financing of our Elections removes the financial complication in politics as usual. Several states have implemented aspects of this option with great success. Is this for Washington state? To find out more, read the following article: Clean Elections

To read about Arizona's Clean Election Law click here

To read about Clean Elections in WA State Click Here

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