Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Mon, Mar 2 1992 Date: Mon, 2 Mar 92 05:57:42 EST Message-ID: 03-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update March 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FLA. UTILITY SELLING NUKE POWER: Florida Power Corp. is touting nuclear power as environmentally correct in a low-key advertising campaign launched recently, ADWEEK reports in its issue out Monday. The campaign positions nuclear energy as an aid in the fight against air and water pollution and the greenhouse effect. The theme is "Nuclear energy. The natural reaction to protecting Florida's environment." (For more, see special Campaign package below.) SENATORS SEND LETTER TO BUSH: Seven U.S. Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, sent President Bush a letter Friday urging him to support tax changes that would benefit domestic oil producers. Independent producers want to exempt their intangible drilling costs and depletion allowance from the minimum tax that the 1986 tax law requires many to pay. OIL, GASOLINE FUTURES LOWER: Energy futures drifted lower in lackluster trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. Crude oil prices were pulled lower by the weakness in gasoline. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in April was 7 cents lower at $18.68 a barrel. March unleaded gasoline was .78 cent lower at 55.50 cents a gallon. April natural gas was 1.5 cent higher at $1.171 per thousand cubic feet. NO INJURIES FROM EXPLOSION: Texaco Chemical Co. officials Sunday credited emergency training with preventing injuries Saturday when a ruptured gas pipeline exploded. A bulldozer paving an employee parking lot struck the 10-inch pipeline in Conroe, Texas. Gulf States Utilities says 10,000 customers in Conroe and Cut 'N Shoot remained without electricity Sunday as a result of the blast. TROJAN NOT YET AT FULL POWER: Portland General Electric's Trojan nuclear plant won't be up to full power until Wednesday, officials said Sunday. The plant was shut down a year ago because of cracks in its steam generator tubes. Friday, malfunctioning turbines kept the plant off-line until Saturday, when it was brought up to 20%. INCENTIVES FOR PRODUCERS PROPOSED: Oklahoma Sens. David Boren and Don Nickles last week re-introduced their legislation to provide a variety of tax incentives, including an oil import fee for domestic oil producers. Neither senator expects the measure to pass. "I remain amazed that ... this country has failed to come to grips with the threats inherent in its dependence on foreign oil," Boren said. TIME RUNNING OUT: Time is running out on domestic oil producers, especially independents who discover most of the oil produced in the United States, said Sen. David Boren, D-Okla. "Either we act now ... or we will face the future without vibrant independent oil and gas producers and with increasing dependence on unstable sources of foreign oil," said Boren. HYDROGEN ENGINE IN WORKS: Mazda Motor Corp. is one of many automakers looking for alternative energy powerplants for its cars. Mazda is agressively pursuing hydrogen rotary-engine technology. Mazda displayed the HR-X Hydrogen RE Vehicle last fall in Tokyo. "The hydrogen rotary is still our main environmentally friendly engine," says a Mazda spokesman. "But it's for the 21st century." PEC UNITS WANT COSTS BACK: Trunkline Gas Co., Trunkline LNG Co. and Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Friday to recover more than $400 million of costs related to a liquefied natural gas project. Panhandle Eastern Corp., parent of firms, says the pipeline is shifiting from merchant to transporter and is eliminating charges for services that won't be needed. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CAMPAIGN: UMBRELLA APPROACH USUAL TACTIC: Florida Power's ads promoting nuclar power comes amid renewed debate over the energy source and marks the first time a utility has initiated its own pro-nuclear campaign via paid media. Most utilities rely on public relations efforts or an umbrella campaign from the United States Council on Energy Awareness created by Ogilvy & Mather in Houston. COUNCIL HOPES OTHERS ADVERTISE: Other utilities are monitoring Florida Power's nuclear power ad campaing, said Ed Aduss, vice president for advertising at the United States Council on Energy Awareness. Aduss hopes other utilities follow Florida Power's lead. "The more advertising we have in favor of nuclear-generated electricity, the better it is for the entire industry," he said. CAMPAIGN IS EDUCATIONAL: Opponents of nuclear power aren't saying much about Florida Power's ad campaign, which was created by Tampa's Lipphardt Advertising. "The nuclear industry has no credibility, so I don't worry about these ads," said Robert Pollard of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Florida Power says the campaign is strictly an educational effort. ADS RUN IN FLA. NEWSPAPERS: One ad shows a father and son launching a toy sailboat on a lake. The copy states that nuclear energy is clean "because no fossil fuels are burned" and "no air pollutants or greenhouse gasses are created." Lipphardt has created five other ads that are running once a month in newspapers throughout Florida Power's service area in central and north Florida. (End of package.) Energy Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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