Gov. Anderson on energy crisis, environment, and women in government

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Anderson details steps to deal with the energy crisis and fuel shortage in Minnesota and the nation. He says conservation measures and sacrifices are needed, as well as national leadership for state cooperation. He talks about labor unions vs. environmentalists, citing Reserve Mining as an example of resolved conflict. Finally he discusses women?s role in politics, discrimination, and says a larger pool of women with law training is needed.

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WENDELL R. ANDERSON: Don't say I'm not sure what will happen specifically because the decision was just made last Friday, October 12th. But it's our belief and our hope that the wholesalers in Minnesota under the mandatory allocation system will receive a hundred percent of what they received in calendar year 1972. And I say that rather slowly because it's very critical.

If it had been the winter of '72-'73, which was one of the warmest in 50 years, we would have been shorted very, very seriously. So the fact that it's a calendar year and we get a piece of two winters is very, very important. In addition, we believe and we don't know for sure, we believe that the state will get an addition to that 10% of the supply of 1972, which we can use for emergency purposes.

Obviously, the top priorities would be the hospitals, the nursing homes, and the schools. But if in fact these things come about, and the plan is supposed to go into effect on November 1, we believe and we can make sure that no homeowner goes without the fuel that they need. And that no school or hospital or nursing home need shut down because of the shortage.

There will be the need to adopt some conservation measures. We have to take these things very seriously. But it was an encouraging sign that the federal government is finally providing some national leadership in this area.

SPEAKER: Governor, the DFL task force on energy, on the engine energy crisis put out a report that was reported in the newspaper early this week that it's going to be very, very hard to solve the problems of energy in this country because they hinge so much on political decisions that are unpopular with the electorate.

WENDELL R. ANDERSON: I think there are a lot of areas where if the elected official is to provide leadership, it becomes very controversial. I don't think in the area of energy, we have that. I think that Governor McCall of Oregon of the 50 governors has perhaps spoken out more strongly than any of us and provided a real program for conservation measures in Oregon. And he's a very, very popular governor.

I think that the president, hopefully, would speak out and provide even more leadership in this area. I think if you do that, I think you'd be very popular. I think the people are willing to make sacrifices as long as their friends and neighbors in other states are also making a sacrifice. And by making that sacrifice, you increase the likelihood that your state will receive more energy, more fuel oil, more propane.

But it's very difficult to convince the people of Minnesota that they ought to reduce their speed limits to 50. That they ought to reduce the thermostats in the wintertime to 65 or 68 and go without air conditioning for periods of time in the summer if the people in the other states are not doing the same types of things.

That's why I feel it's essential that either the president or someone in his administration provide a national leadership, so that all of the states cooperate. If we get that national leadership, I think our people will respond very, very enthusiastically.

SPEAKER: The state AFL-CIO convention was held here a couple of weeks ago. Several resolutions came out of that convention, which would turn down legislation like ban the can and moratorium on nuclear fission power plants. How does the politician-- how do you as governor stand the dilemma between the labor unions, for example, and the environmentalists on the other hand?

WENDELL R. ANDERSON: I think that we have to make sure that there's no conflict. I think the best way to talk about that specific problem is to look at reserve mining. For several years now, I have strongly supported the proposition that reserves should be required to build a onshore disposal facility for those 67,000 tons of tailings that they deposit into beautiful Lake Superior every day.

I don't want the plant to close so that we lose 3,000 jobs. If it takes some state support and federal support to allow reserve mining to do that, well, I think we ought to provide that kind of help. But the point is, I think that we need not have our environmental objectives and be inconsistent with our concern for jobs.

We have to have jobs in Minnesota in the area of copper-nickel. I want copper-nickel to be developed. But I don't want a dirty smelter in Minnesota. I want the mining company that develops our copper-nickel resources to be required to restore the land to a usable state when they use up the copper-nickel resources.

But I think it's a mistake for environmentalists, and I would certainly call myself an environmentalist, if we just strike ahead without any concern for the worker who might lose his job. I think we have to be concerned about their feelings and their responsibilities to their families the same as we have a great concern to protect the environment.

Governor McCall in Oregon, I've mentioned him before, is the only state where they've banned the can. But I would like to point out that they're one of the few states where they do not produce cans, either aluminum or tin can. And I think that there is a difference there. We would lose 6,000 or 7,000 jobs. We can't let that happen.

SPEAKER: Governor Anderson, one last question. About women in politics, the women in both political parties have divided into caucuses as you know. And they are saying that the parties are not responsive to women's issues. That they are being ignored. That even though they do a lot of the work of the campaign, that they don't have any clout because it's their husbands who give the money to the parties. Is this alarming to you as a DFL governor?

WENDELL R. ANDERSON: I think those charges were very, very true two, three, four years ago. I think the political parties are trying to turn it around. And the Democratic Party, of course, our national chairperson was a woman during the 1972 campaign. At our national convention, our delegates were pretty well evenly divided between men and women.

But there was great prejudice shown in the past, particularly in the professional schools, law, medicine, dentistry. I think in terms of paying job opportunities, great prejudice. And so I think that the elected officials and the governments in particular have to turn that around. And we're trying to do that.

SPEAKER: What has been your reluctance to point women to judgeships?

WENDELL R. ANDERSON: I don't have any reluctance. About six or seven weeks ago, I appointed Mrs. Gayle Murray from Hibbing to the St. Louis County Court. She's a county judge that's full time. I don't know of any governor in the state who's ever appointed a woman as a judge before. In Minneapolis, a very fine woman ran for the post of municipal judge and was elected by the people.

But to my knowledge, no governor has appointed a woman. Now, there may have been a case 30, 40 years ago that I'm not familiar with. What I must say that we need a larger pool of women who have a law training. When I was in law school, there wasn't a single gal in my class. Now, I know that the law schools, medical schools are opening up their programs to women.

And so as years go by, I will have more people to pick from. And future governors will have a vast number of women who have law training that they can pick from. There are some very fine women who are practicing law in Minnesota.

SPEAKER: I happen to know, governor, that the women are preparing legislation or working on preparing legislation. That would give tax credits and particular recognition to the kinds of work that they do for political parties and for volunteer organizations, particularly serving on boards and that sort of thing. Is this something that you would support?

WENDELL R. ANDERSON: No, since I have not heard of this until you mentioned it today. It sounds like a very, very good idea. But I think we should talk about making sure it's a deductible item not only on the state income tax but the federal as well is because there would have the greatest impact. But it would seem just off the top of my head to make good sense. And I could support it.

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