ARCO President Answers Protesters, Defends Company's South Africa Policy

Thorton F. Bradshaw '40, president of Atlantic Richfield Corp. (ARCO), spoke to guests at Lowell House last night while 12 protesters marched outside.

About a dozen members of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC) rallied outside of the talk in the Lowell House senior common room, charging ARCO with considering corporate profits before consumer interests, and with drilling off the coast of South Africa.

Head of the Pack

Bradshaw told guests at a Ford dinner last night he thinks the American public is finally realizing the severity of the energy shortage and the importance of energy independence in the future under President Carter's energy program.

Bradshaw said former energy policies relied too heavily on foreign oil and the break-up of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. These programs immeasurably harmed U.S. economy, he added.

Before the meeting, Daniel A. Lashof '81, a DSOC member, said the two groups oppose "the undemocratic nature of ARCO's power to rip-off the American public."

Cold Sores

Bradshaw said ARCO is actively investing in alternative energy sources--mainly in shale and solar power--and denied that ARCO is active in South Africa.

"Oil is too important a commodity to be left up to the oil companies," Bradshaw said, adding that he thinks government should totally regulate distribution of oil and guide research into other energy sources. The government should also provide loan guarantees to small energy companies to spur continued research, he said.

One Way or Another

Bradshaw said he thinks the nation will use nuclear power and coal as transitional fuels but added that safety considerations will demand a rapid switch to solar power. ARCO is extensively researching different uses of solar energy, especially a plan based on decentralized photovoltaic cells.

William H. Bossert, McKay Professor of Applied Mathematics and master of Lowell House, called the demonstration "ill-timed and quite inappropriate," adding that Bradshaw "is the only president of an oil company who is for a comprehensive energy plan and for mass transit."