Page 4 RAIN May 1978 POWERS. OF ONE Lloyd K. Marbet FORELAWS ON BOARD 19142 S. Bakers Ferry Rd. Boring, Oregon 97009 503 /63 7-·3549 In the early '70s, when a lot of people were wringing their hands and wondering what had happened to the Movement, some folks were already digging into the new decade, grappling with a whole n~w set of issues a,nd preparing for a lo_ng, hard struggle. Lloyd Marbet of Portland, Oregon, was one of those people. And nuclear power was his issue. Somewhat inadvertently at first, Lloyd jumped into the nuclear political arena~fueled by a sense of moral outrage over the preposterous implications for humanity, and committed to enlightening his adversaries about the imperatives of entering into the Faustian Bargain. Several years and countless hearings later, after a law degree's worth of self-educition and a lot of personal sacrifice, Lloyd Marbet has grown into a well-tempered, highly skilled nuclear intervenor, using the legal and administrative processes available to citizen activists in a highly responsible mannernavigating the dense undergrowth of the nuclear regulatory and licensing bureaucracies in order to turn the nuclear option on itself and let if fail of its own ineptness. For the rest of us, the fact that one person like Lloyd is capable of channeling his concern for the planet's future into the legal quagmire, as well as the minutia of energy-related considerations that accompany it- load factors, plant economics, risk analyses- may well keep more nukes out of our lives and push us that much closer to realizing a humane and livable alternative. Clearly, in such an arena, the powers of 1 one highly-dedicated soul to affect change at critical junctures has a bearing on the survival of us all. . "When I came on board," says Lloyd, "there was simply no one else to do it!" Among his first activities was an initiative petition to set more stringent standards on the release of radioactivity in 1971. Then, in 1973 he be.came involved in· his first rate hearing with the Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and since then has be.en through four more, plus Readers, please take note: a paean to individualism this is not. To individuality, perhaps, y es. Individualism sees the self as ·the mosi important thing in the universe; individuality celebrates the self as its own unique manifestation of the universe. Powers of One is a celebration of what one engaging self can do for the Whole, for us all, by finding a niche and filling it, by seeking that purp'ose that has some truth and doing it. The country needs more people who can learn from Lloyd. another involving Pacific Power and Light. By the fall of 1974, when the public was just beginning to wake up to the extent of the growth fantasies being forecast by the nuclear industry, Lloyd had become an intervenor in the hearings for the li-' censing of two nuclear units proposed by PGE at Boardman, Oregon. He subsequently backed off becoming more involved. But when·the potential encroachment of a Navy bomber base forced the relocation of_the site to Pebble Springs on the Columbia River, he began intervening in ihe state hearings, ✓ and took on the federal hearings as well in 1975. Since that time it's been full-tilt intervention. It was at a lic'ensing hearing on the Trojan nuclear power plant where Lloyd first met Robert Cobq, a businessmanactivist disturbed by the prospect of a nuclear future and unafraid of engaging in controversy. Cobb has already founded his own self-styled advocacy organization called Forelaws on Board, a reference to Barry Commoner's Four Laws of Ecology, among other things. He eventually took Lloyd under his wing, providing him with the toClls and confidence to get him moving down the right path. Gradually Cobb became less involved in direct intervention .and began channeling his ener: gies into establishing an intentional community. Lloyd became the main intervenor, assisted by volunteers and encouraged by Cobb. Despite a general lack of legal skills, or maybe because of it, Lloyd took tl)e leeway to establish his own style of nuclear intervention. After several years of constant effort and various legal and extra-legal tactics, Lloyd scored a signiticant procedural victory in March 1977. At that time the Oregon State Supreme Court granted his petition, ne_cessitating a substantial delay·in the iss1:1ing of site certificates for the Pebble Springs project by ordering the Energy Facility Siting Council to rehear PGE's application from scrattch. Among the Court's concerns with the Siting Council's insufficient setting of standards were those involving the financial capabilities of the applicants, their
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