Boycots and Interstate Commerce
- From: Shall not be infringed <hot-ham-and-cheese@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 19:10:19 -0700 (PDT)
Heh, heh.
(Reuters) - An Arizona power commissioner has dared Los Angeles
officials to turn off the electricity they get from Arizona if they
are serious about boycotting the state over its crackdown on illegal
immigration.
In a sharply worded letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that raises
the political stakes for America's second-largest city, Arizona
Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce noted that Los Angeles gets 25
percent of its electricity from Arizona and challenged the mayor to
cut off that supply.
"If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to
encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so
that Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based
generation," Pierce said in the letter.
"If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its
convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona
power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona's
economy."
The letter was sent to Villaraigosa on Tuesday and provided to Reuters
by Pierce's office.
Villaraigosa, who was in Washington on Wednesday for the visit of
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, issued a statement in which he
declined to take up Pierce's challenge directly.
"The Mayor stands strongly behind the city council on this issue and
will not respond to threats from a state which has isolated itself
from the America that values freedom, liberty and basic civil rights,"
Villaraigosa said in the statement.
A spokesman for the mayor declined to comment beyond the statement.
City Councilman Ed Reyes, who sponsored Los Angeles' economic boycott
measure of Arizona and made headlines with his fiery rhetoric, could
not be reached for comment.
Pierce told Reuters in an interview that his letter was not intended
as a threat because Arizona officials could not legally terminate the
power agreements on their own.
"They own that power, they could negotiate to rid themselves of that
power, it's a benefit to Los Angeles," he said. "If you're going to
divest yourself, divest yourself all the way. So swallow deep, mayor
and city council, and do it. Or back off and let's be friends again."
Los Angeles officials voted 13-1 last Wednesday to end about $8
million in contracts with Arizona, becoming the largest U.S. city to
impose such an economic boycott.
The city left another $50 million in contracts in place but the
council has directed department heads to refrain from doing future
business with Arizona or companies headquartered there.
Pierce is one of five elected members of the Arizona Corporation
Commission, which governs water, power and public utilities companies
in the state, as well as rail and pipeline safety and securities law.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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