The protesters were taken out of the hotel ballroom. Yet, he said the meeting was more friendly than not, and both men complimented each other on conservation efforts. Polls show voters in the nation's most populous state don't think either politician is doing enough to ease their power woes. Shortages and high prices could spread elsewhere and cause political problems for Bush. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday warned that transmission bottlenecks are not restricted to California.
Many countries have national grids.
America does not. Bush has criticized California, and by implication Davis himself, for not building more power plants or moving quicker to respond to fallout from faulty state deregulation laws. He sought yesterday to remain above the fray, even as White House advisers continued to criticize Davis privately and predicted that the governor's confrontational approach would backfire now that Bush has changed his public tone. His announcement that military facilities in California have exceeded their goal of trimming usage by 10 percent during peak hours. A Department of Energy project to stimulate the building of more electrical lines running north and south through the state.