.: WwYYMrrr w I G'4e 3+ aigzn Pait Eighty-three years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 News Phone: 764-0552 FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1974 Nature loses to energy PRESIDENT NIXON'S address to Con- gress Wednesday included four pro- posals to boost the nation's energy sup- plies - to the detriment of the environ- ment. He called for relaxation of the Clean Air Act standards, modification of offshore drilling structures, recommended building an Alaska natural gas pipeline and speeding up construction of nuclear power plants. The Clean Air Act, a landmark victory for environmentalists, was designed to reduce air pollution. Now Nixon insists that the nation continue poisoning its air in order to increase energy efficiency. Santa Barbara citizens are no doubt not exactly delirious with joy at the pros- pect of additional offshore drilling. Oil slicks are an ecological nightmare, and the inhabitants of coastal areas do not want to witness others. Another Alaska pipeline would be ana- thema to environmentalists because of the massive disturbances it could easily cause to the Alaskan environment. LIKEWISE, NUCLEAR power plants could mean enormous upsets of local environments. Nixon promises that the plants will be built "without compromis- ing safety or environmental standards,' but it is not yet clear that adequate safe- ty and environmental standards exist. President Nixon's proposals are seen as a major setback to conservationists, who have worked hard and long for legislation such as the Clean Air Act. Although Nix- on justifies relaxation of pollution stand- ards in the interests of energy conserva- tion, it is quite clear from the previous fights necessary to gain such standards that once approved, these relaxations may continue or be increased long after our energy crisis has passed. In the meantime, America's environ- ment will continue to be threatened. Vie nan By JOHN WHITMORE ON THE afternoon of January 24, 1973, Luu Quy Ky, Secretary- General of the Association of Viet- namese Journalists of the Demo- cratic Republic of Vietnam, quick- ly called a news conference in response to the requests of t h e foreign correspondents in Hanoi. The announcement of the cease- fire agreements had been made that morning, but the official press conference in Paris had not yet been held, and Ky, .in an ebullient mood, joked about how he really had nothing to say. Pausing after every sentence to allow each journalist's interpreter to translate, he went on to talk about what this event meant to his people. It was an historic oc- casion, he told us, and he proceed- ed to take us through the g r e a t event s of Vietnamese history. "Now," he stated, "for the first time in over a hundred years we will be without foreign troops on our soil." In a strict sense, this has been the case. The last American troops have left, as have the small Kor- ean, Thai, and Australian conting- ents, and the prisoners have come home. Yet the Vietnamese have not been left to work out their own problems. THE UNITED STATES has con- tinued in its major role as a sup- porter of the Saigon regime and many elements in our military and "The United States has continued its major role as a supporter of the Saigon regime and many elements in our military and government are advocating another massive injection of military aid . .." J.Wmaaaawmm The conflict after the government are advocating ano- ther massive injection of military aid above and beyond that of the immediate ceasefire period. Gra- ham Martin, our present ambassa- dor in Saigon, is four-square be- hind Thieu and is the latter's best advocate in this country. Indeed, Martin's stance takes us back over a decade to the last years of Ngo Dinh Diem: Optimism is the official order, newsmen a r e excoriated, and reality has been thrown out the window. Where, then, has a year taken ed States has claimed and believ- ed, the Vietnamese knew that they had stood up to and blunted the American "trump card" and that it was they who had brought Wash- ington to the table. Ever distrust- ful, the Vietnamese were prepared to go to -any length to continue their opposition to the American threat. Then the agreements came, agreements basically the same as those they had sought the previous October - the American attacks on the North would cease, a i d YET THE prospects for such a pattern have come to be increas- ingly dim as the likelihood of a po- tential resolution of the sputhern struggle fades. The Democratic Republic, from the time of its great Tet celebration of a year ago, has aimed toward the redevelopment of its economy. Yet the United States has refused any considera- tion of aid. The Provisional Re- volutionary Government in t h e South has taken its own territory in hand and has been making great strides in the development of this territory. Yet the United States has refused to recognize it as a legiti- mate political force. The Saigon regime has contin- ued to show a lack of any ability to handle the increasingly critical social-economic situation of i t s territories, while further develop- ing its ever-narrowing police hold over competitive forces and at- tempting to disrupt through bomb- ing raids the territory of its rival. Yet, the United States Embassy, as noted, is as determined as ever to support this regime, to bring in advisors, and to back Saigon's intrusions into the territory of the Provisional Revolutionary Govern- ment. HANOI, WHILE hoping that the above would not be the case, had in private certainly foreseen that the United States and Nixon, hav- ing committed so much already to Vietnam, would not be willing peace merely to back off and allow the Vietnamese to resolve the situa- tion. This has proven to be the case. The present administration shows no signs that it will do what it in effect promised a year ago - recognize the Geneva Agreements of 1954, leave Vietnam to the Viet- namese, and take positive steps to bring stability and prosperity to this war-torn country. Instead of keeping hands off as we have done in Laos, where the two parties are, of their own ac- cord, well on their way to resolving their problems, the United States has continued to encourage the minority and unrepresentative fac- tions that control Saigon and Phnom Penh to resist such resolu- tion almost entirely by means of our material and diplomatic aid. To commemorate and discuss the situation of Indochina as it exists a year later, the Indochina' Peace Campaign has set Saturday after- noon in East Quad for the purpose of bringing together the Ann Arbor community. We will examine the different parts of Indochina a n d their current circumstances as well as the role of the United States therein. All are welcome. John Whitmore is an Assistant Professor of history at the Univer- sity. Vietnam? The view of Hanoi at the begin- ning of 1973 was a highly positive one on the surface. The last great foreign attack on Vietnamese sov- ereignty, the B-52 raids of the "twelve historic days of Decem- ber" had become history as anlo- ther great Vietnamese victory, ful- ly the equivalent of those of the past. FAR FROM BEING bombed to the negotiating table, as the Unit- would come, and machinery f o r self-determination would be estab- lished to resolve the political ques- tion in the South. Ultimately, a sta- ble southern regime would begin talks with the Democratic Repub- lic in the North for the reunifica- tion of the country. Meanwhile, Hanoi could pick up where it had left off at the beginning of the bombing in 1965, with the effort toward the full development of the socialist state. ... Reassessing energy 'needs' is I- 11(6 TNT Call p4 FAMILYr i WI tAMY1 ,TVMN SPEAKING of America's energy "program for the future," President Nixon's opening sentence and basic as- sumption was that "energy demand in the United States will certainly continue to rise." This is of course the assumption that most Americans, government officials and the general public alike, presumably hold. But must we go on assuming that continued vast growth of energy use is good, or even necessary? Much of the tremendous growth in en- ergy use that is predicted by the govern- ment, the press and the energy producers involves increased demand for electricity. For example, in 1972 the utilities in California asserted that 130 new power plants would have to be constructed in the next 30 years to provide the state's electrical needs. However, a RAND corporation report in September of that year concluded that in fact new power plant construction could be held to 23 during those three decades through the use of such things as in- creased use of natural gas for cooking, clothes drying and better insulation of buildings. MOREOVER, IT WOULD seem that growth of petroleum products use could be curtailed, or perhaps even stop- ped through the promotion of efficient and effective mass transportation sys- tems that could drastically reduce the need for gasoline to power automobiles. This country will certainly use energy, perhaps even in increased amounts. But TODAY'S STAFF: News: Bill Heenan, Jack Krost, Mary Long, Gene Robinson, Judy Ruskin, Jim Schuster, Ted Stein Editorial Page: Mike Foley, MornieHeyn, Michael McFall, Eric Schoch, Tricia Tepper . Arts Page: Sara Rimer Photo Technician: Ken Fink it would seem time to give careful thought to what energy needs will be, how to efficiently and safely meet those needs and most importantly to begin looking at what "needs" are not really needs at all. We can no longer afford to assume that we can allow our energy con- sumption to increase willy-nilly. We need a little thoughtful self-examination of the ways we live. Taxing THROUGHOUT THE YEARS the major oil companies have been able to con- vince Congress that the oil . industry needed tax breaks that outstrip those granted to corporations in other fields, including extremely accelerated deple- tion allowances. For example, in hearings Tuesday Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-Conn.) noted that Exxon, the world's largest oil company and second in total revenues only to Gen- eral Motors Corporation, paid taxes at an effective rate of 6.5 per cent in 1972. In addition, he added that Mobil Oil paid an effective rate of 1.3 per cent, Standard Oi lof California at 2.05 per cent and Texaso at 1.7 per cent, while the standard corporate rate is about 48 per cent. In addition, he added that Mobil Oil paid an effective rate of 1.3 per ON WEDNESDAY Exxon announced that its profits for the fourth quarter of 1973 were up a whopping 59 per cent over the same period despite a supposed. drop in oil imports. In light of such reports of low taxation and high profits while the public suffers from the economic impact of the short- age, the President's recommendation for tougher taxation on foreign profits as well as a windfall profits tax is a neces- sary beginning of a more realistic tax structure for the oil industry. fur bo m Dif r "M r 1ml~i . WLLD 7 MWAPPR0FPIA1E AM) T0- . &AVE- TH6E rMn GO WTn' THEr OT" -R -nG STRIKE -It1 t" 2L X)VOPU O 66ThIRVMI ~~)Th- \ L AW H D. ILL ...rn Consumers save. on returnable bo ttles /i By CONNIE FILIPOVITCH and JOSEPH TUCHINSKY THERE ARE A number of ways you can view legislation now pending in the Michigan Senate and House to outlaw the non-re- turnable beer or soft drink con- tainer. It can be seen as an environ- mental effort, aimed at cleaning up the roadside, reducing the cost .f solid-waste management, and saving scarce and expensive min- °ral resources. It can be seen as an energy is- sue, since nearly one-half of one percent of all the energy consumed in the United States is used for beverage containers, and it is es- timated that half of this energy would be saved if we used return- able bottles instead of throw-aways, enough to heat the homes and fuel the cars of around 20,000 people in Michigan alone. But few advocates of such legis- lation notice that it is also a con- sumer issue. Propaganda by the :ontainer industry has sought to 3bscure the fact that using return- able containers is much less ex- pensive to bottlers, and that com- petition results in the savings be- ing passed on to consumers. They emphasize the "extra cost" of the bottle deposit, but ignore both the lower price for the beverages and the refund when the bottles are returned. A PIRGIM mini-survey of six grocery stores in the Lansing-East Lansing area and ten in the De- troit area, done in early January, reveals some interesting facts. OSAM NOVA, 0 614P OF5rA -r-GI t Letters to The WE WANTED to compare the prices of the same beverage in both returnable and throw-away containers to see if requiring a 5 cent of 10 cent deposit would he likely to save money or cost money for the consumer. It's hard to find beer in return- able bottles; no store surveyed in the Lansing area stocked it. Re- latively few Detroit area stores carried soft drinks in returnables. But in nine stores surveyed we found 16-ounce Coca-Cola, Pepsi- Cola, RC Cola, or 7-Up eight packs in both returnable and throw-away bottles. We based our comparisons only on these., In no case were the throw-aways cheaper. In two stores, the price was the same for returnables and Ioily bers and the secretaries. The po- lice were called, but by the time they arrived the "people's meet- ing" had broken up. SUFFICE IT to say, I was scar- ed. The potential danger inherent in that meeting was tremendous. But what shocks me more than anything is the fact that this sort of action is praised by The Daily. While student government does have its weaknesses, it also does some pretty important things. Mo- tions concerning dorm hikes, gro- cery co-ops, etc., have no chance of being considered if meetings are disrupted in this manner. If dis- sent is to be expressed, it must be done in a peaceful and order- ly manner. Any further attempt to radically and forcefully dominate meetings must be prevented. -Suzy Prog Director of Jewish Affairs, SGC Jan. 15 To The Daily: WHILE I REALIZE that t he Daily has long stood as a tribute to a corrupt and biased journal- ism, this time I think you've gone a little too far. The editorial of Jan. 15, praising the disrespectful and disruptive actions of the con- stituents at last Thursday's SGC meeting was about more than I can take. What happened to the facts, people? As one who personally attended that meeting, I think it's about time somebody let the students know what really happened. The meeting was called to order and after the opening festivities, the treasurer announced that she would be resigning, the administra- tive vice-president resigned, and then Lee Gill, the president him- self, gave a lovely speech a n d stepped down from his position. To my knowledge, this was totally unexpected, and a ten minute re- cess was called so that Jeff Shil- ler, the executive vice-president, could talk with some people arout his new role as president. pressed her glee at seeing all her brothers and sisters that had come to the meeting, and then began an impassioned and enduring tirade on the "racist" and fascist" coun- cil. As the constituents intermit- tedly broke out in cheers at the slanderous terms being tossed out, Jeff Shiller tried to regain order in the meeting. He was consistent- ly shouted down, and the council, seeing that business would be im- possible to carry out, hastily called for adjournment. WHEN THE council members be- gan to leave, the doors were blozk- ed by two very large students, and the meeting got rowdy. Ted Liu then locked the door, preventing the members from leaving the council chambers, while the now mob-like crowd overturned all sense of order and began a "peo- ples meeting." Luckily, a back door was opened, and a quick exit was made by the council mem- throw-aways; both owners said they were trying to discourage sale of returnables. In the other seven stores, the re- turnables cost from 20 cents to 46 cents less for the beverages, not counting the 40 cent deposit on the eight bottles, which is refund- ed when you return them on your next trip to the store. The average saving on returnables at these stores was 32.4 cents per eight pack. THESE RESULTS didn't sur- prise us. Savings to consumers is one of the arguments on the aide of advocates of a returnable-bottle law. A University of Illinois econ- omist, Hugh Folk, testifying before a U.S. Senate subcommittee head- ed by Senator Philip Hart (D- Mich.) over two years ago, pro- jected that a national conversion to returnable bottles instead of throw-aways would save consum- ers the whopping sum of $1.3 bil- lion annually. Folk argued that the other serv- ices and products consumers would buy with an extra $1.3 billion - extra money to apply toward cars, stereo sets, clothing, college tui- tion - would create jobs that would largely make up for the jobs lost in the container-manufacturing industry. (In Oregon, some of the extra money was spent or more beer; a year after their bottle bill was passed, beer sales were up 5 per cent.) It averages out to only $6.50 sav- ed per person per year, around $26 for the average family. But, Folk implicitly asks, which would you rather buy with your $6.50: A year's supply of throw-away emp- ties, or a book, a pair of jeans, a couple of flicks, or a left f r o n t hubcap for your new Mercedes; Diesel? FOR YEARS bottlers used a sys- tem of deposit and return for bev- erage packaging. Grocers adjusted to it. Consumers accepted it. The cost of the container w a s passed from the manufacturer to the wholesaler to the retailer to the consumer and back again. A bottle might make 40 trips, i t s cost to each consumer one-fortieth sumer absorbs the entire cost of its manufacture, and then passes on to the taxpayers the cost of its disposal in bulging sanitary landfills, where a can takes 50 years to decompose - and a throw- away bottle may last forever. Re- moval of containers from land- fills would cause a decrease of 75 per cent. "Propaganda by the container industry has sought to obscure the fact that using return- able containers is much less expensive to bottlers, and that competition results in the savings being pass- ed on to consumers. BECAUSE THESE containers were lighter to ship, competition was possible. As consumer afflu- ence and tolerance rose, t h r o w- aways increased in price. T h a y now cost approximately 30 per cent more than returnables. But the inconvenience of hauling them back no longer existed - though one was going back anyway. Professor Folk has estimated that a return to returnables would save Illinois consumers $71 million an- nually and save 55 per cent of the energy now spent on beverage con- tainers. There is no reason to think it would do less for Michigan. It sounds so easy, though. Perhaps we'd better appoint a commission to explore- our im- mense technologiral capabilities for waste disposal. Then, in 10 ort 15 years, we'll have a highly com- plex recycling system - and no Contact your reps- Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol Hull. Whinutn . D.C .2015.