On December 5th, at five o'clock, the first lady of California helped a little boy to light the state Christmas tree. About half an hour later the governor, Gray Davis, switched it off. In the huge power crisis that faces the state, lighting 4,000 bulbs on a white fir looks like carelessness. On December 7th the state declared its first-ever "stage-three" emergency, meaning that 98.5% of its power reserves had been consumed and that a series of hour-long power cuts might be imposed on different regions. In the end, no such cuts were needed, partly because the state shut down the enormous pumps that drive water along its 600-mile north-to-south aqueduct, but supplies remained tight. This year California has also had more than 30 "stage-two" emergencies, when the system is at 95% of capacity. The previous annual record of stage-two emergencies was four.
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