—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Feb. 8, 1975
26
FEA Administrator Says
Rationing Gas Too Drastic
Rationing of gasoline to
reduce our dependence on
imported oil must be
regarded as the very last and
most drastic measure, ac
cording to Joseph A. USala.
Regional Administrator for
the Federal Energy Ad
ministration.
"When the American
people fully understand the
ramifications of what
rationing means, I am
convinced they will support
the alternatives being ad
vocated by President Ford,”
taSala said.
"Instead of long lines at
gasoline stations, we may
see long lines at Post Offices
as the Nation’s 140 million
licensed drivers que up for
their coupon allotments,” he
said.
said those favoring
rationing also should con
sider the enormity of the
bureaucracy necessary to
operate it. FEA estimates
the cost at about $2 billion
and would inject government
in may new aspects of each
American’s every day life.
“To reach the President’s
goal of lowering imports by
one million barrels per day
this year, a rationing system
would permit the average
motorist only 36 gallons per
month as compared with the
current useage of 50 gallons
per month,” he said.
Although each person
would receive an equal
number of coupons, the use
of gasoline vanes widely
among drivers. Many per
sons who require more than
36 gallons would be forced to
purchase coupons on the
“White Market” from
drivers who do not use their
36 gallons, he said.
“This gives rise to serious
inequities between rural,
suburban, and urban
dwellers and would unpact
heavily on some very poor
persons, such as migrant
workers who are forced to
Civil Service
Needs Geologists
The State Civil Service
Commission has announced
limited opportunities for
fulltime summer em
ployment as a geologic aide
with the Department of
Environmental Resources.
Except for a few positions
in Altoona, Muncy, and
Pittsburgh, most of the jobs
will be located in
Harrisburg. The actual
number of positions, their
locations and duration will
depend on agency needs and
availability of funds.
A written test is not
required for the positions.
Applicants will be rated on
their education and ex
perience in the field of
geology as reported on the
civil service application and
the training and experience
supplement.
Applications will be ac
cepted continuously until
Friday, March 21,1975. A list
of eligible applicants will be
established as soon as
possible after applications
are received.
Inflation
This year I’m gomg to give my
wife something worth $5O
guess it’ll have to be a $lOO bill'
Be Sure
Last Christmas we gave our
12 year old a chemistry set Not
too long ago he held up a vial
and yelled “Lay one finger on
me and we’ll all go up together'”
drive long distances each
year,” taSala said.
He noted that while
rationing may limit con
sumption in the short run, it
makes no contribution to the
middle and long term goals
of energy independence
since it provides no incentive
for increasing the domestic
supply of oil. Rationing also
cannot be sustained over a
long period of time in cir
cumstances short of war.
"The days of cheap and
plentiful energy are over.
Our problem now is trying to
make the best of a difficult
situation, and there is no
easy way out,” said.
“The tax on unported oil
will permit the time-tested
principles of the market
place to work on lowering
consumption. If that fails, we
can always turn to other
alternatives,” LaSala said.
LaSala is Administrator
for Region 111, Which con
sists of Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Delaware, West
Virginia, Virginia, and the
District of Columbia.
Natural Gas Curtailed
Affects Pa. Economy
U.S. Senator Hugh Scott
(R*Pfl.) recently protested
the curtailment of natural
gas to Pennsylvania and
called upon the Federal
Power Commission to
‘ 'ensure maximum
production and equitable
distribution of our nation's
natural gas."
In a letter to John N.
Nassikas, Chairman of the
Commission, Scott said the
Commonwealth is dependent
on interstate pipeline
companies for more than 92
percent of its natural gas
supplies.
"Two of the pipeline
companies, Texas Eastern
and Columbia, have already
announced major cur
tailments,” Scott said.
“Normal winter conditions
will result in a 30 percent
curtailment of interruptible
customers. Even if sufficient
quantities of substitute
energy sources were
available, a great many
industries do not have the Thought That counts
facilities to switch during the
period Of curtailment. The derful card for Christmas It
potential impact on em- took him months to make it
ployment and the overall e reads happy fath-
With your farm background ...
Your Future May Be
We know, and you know, that
there just aren’t enough ' farms
available for every rural youth who
would choose farming as his pro
fession.
But there is a good alternative, in
thousands of agriculturally related
businesses. As farming takes on
greater and greater importance each
year, opportunities multiply for the
agri-business industries furnishing
the supplies and services farming
requires.
Take your choice - Teaching, re-
economic environment is
great."
Scott said the oil embargo
"dramatically pointed out
that the Northeastern United
States is heavily dependent
on imported crude, and
petroleum based products.
As a result, in the Northeast
the shortage was more acute
and the price of the product
substantially higher than the
national average. For this
reason, I supported con
sideration of a program to
require a uniform nation
wide price for petroleum
products and also the
recently promulgated crude
equalization program."
In the letter, the Senate
Republican Leader called
the situation “critical.”
"The public must be
assured that government
and industry are making
every effort to meet peoples’
needs," he added.
Than You Think
MAKE AGRI-BUSINESS
YOUR CAREER
National
Agri-Martethg
P. O. Box 856,
Highland Park, Illinois 60035
Consumer Protection Hosts
Speaker On Crime Prevention
The regular monthly
meeting of the general
membership of the Con
sumer Protection Com
mission of Lancaster County
was held on Thursday,
February 6, at 7:30 p.m. in
the Council Chambers of the
Public Safety Building, 208
N. Duke St., Lancaster.
Featured speaker for the
meeting was Ronald W.
Bair, who is a Crime
Prevention Officer with the
Lancaster City Police. Of
ficer Bair has been on the
force for seven years and is a
graduate of Harrisburg Area
Community College with a
degree in Police Science and
Management.
Officer Bair’s topic in
volved advice to the con
sumer on how to deal with
door to door salesmen,
charitable solicitors, in
spectors and repairmen. He
also discussed local and
state laws that protect the
consumer.
Recent changes have
occurred in the chair
menship of several com
mittees of the Commission.
Mr. Chester Shank of
Manheim, has taken over the
Brighter
search, manufacturing, marketing,
communications you name it
the opportunity for you to con
tribute is unlimited.
The challenges are exciting; the
rewards can be great. And you’ll
still be making an important con
tribution to agriculture.
How do you start? If you have
the background or the interest,
write to your State Agricultural
College Admissions Office, or Ag
ricultural Communications Depart
ment for more information.
Investigating Committee. He
plans to work first on
depicting the backlog of
cases to be investigated.
During the last 3 months of
1974 16 cases were closed: 7
concerning home main
tenance, 4 on home ap
pliances, 3 car warranties
and 2 security deposits.
The Program Committee
has been put in the hands of
Mrs. Louise Beltz, of Lan
caster. She is responsible for
bringing the Speakers to the
General Membership
meetings that are held the
first Thursday of the Month,
She hopes to provide
programs of interest to all
consumers in the near
future.
Mrs. Mary Miller, of
Lancaster, has accepted the
Chairmanship of the
Speakers’ Bureau, which is
responsible for providing
other local civic
organizations with
representatives of the
Commission to speak on the
Commission and other
consumer oriented subjects.