• e 12-A Beaumont Sunday Enterprise-Journal, March 30, 1980 By S-COTT TICER Austin Bureau AUSTIN — Wiretap- ping. A dirty word. But if Gov. Bill Clements has his way, the notion will be- a way of life for the Texas Department of Safety in its hopes to tackle the state's- drug trafficking problem. Although the gover- nor's aim was to present legislation authorizing electronic surveillance by the DPS as an "emer- gency item" in the now- canceled special session, the idea has not been canned and is sure to be brought up in January when the legislature re- convenes in regular ses- sion. Wiretapping, Clements and supporters hold, would give the DPS add- ed weight to their bowl- ing ball heading across the Texas plains to knock down the state's drug "kingpins." • Kingpins rarely fall as a result of wiretaps. More than half of all nar- cotics cases which in- volved wiretapping re- stilted in convictions for what would be Texas misdemeanors, a House Study Group Report on the .propoSed legislation states._ t s tock charged Friday. Clements ' announced an agreement to allow more Mexican imports of fruits and vegetables, which will cause a de- crease in vegetable pro- duction in the Lone Star State, Reps. Forrest Green, Pete Patrson and Dan Kubiak sal • representatives were concerned that Mexican crops are protected with . pesticides and other chemicals that have been banned in the United States. - "Need the governor be , reminded that poisons "I hope consume are - aware, even if ;ov. Clements is not, ju.how. . devastating his aon is , not only to our heal, but , to our economy," men said. Green and thtther, — — are just as toxic whether used in the U.S. or Mexi- co?" asked Kubiak. Clement's move, the coalition says, was made against the advice of the committee and agricul- tural experts. The con- ception that Clements is a good trader may be a misnomer. "Why is he trading for products we're already produce in abundance?" Green wonders. "I just hope he doesn't trade away the Alamo next time." ..'Wiretapping just - doesn't work that well in law enforcement. King- pins are too sophisticated to discuss their dealings -on the phone. - '.:Proponents contend that wiretapping will de- crease illegal drug traf- fic in Texas. And it won't be abused. • History should tell us otherwise. Wiretaps are abused. Immigrants, blacks and labor leaders were all victims of electronic surveillance, the idea being that they possibly could have been involved in "radical agitation." Wiretaps, then, histori- cally have been used for political, rather than pro- tective purposes. • •• • - -A Department of Ener- gy proposal to restrict weekend boating to curb the nation's energy ills is just as silly as outlawing picnics to cure world hun- ger. railroad (!ommission I Fi71.` Hightower blasted the Energy Department idea in a press release Friday and used the notion for criticizing the current commission. The com- missioners, the candidate contends, should be keep- ing in touch with Wash- ington and ward off the silliness by taking over fuel-conservation deci- sions from the feds. - The federal power can be delegated to the states, Hightower said. And Hightower is right. The conservation deci- sions can and have been delegated to state energy officials. • Oklahoma is one exam- ple. There, state offi- cials, on the request of Gov. George Nigh, asked for such conservation au- thority to be handed over from DOE. . And it was. Unless Oklahoma de- cides to adopt the federal Plan to restrict weekend .boating in times of tight gasoline supplies, the state's boaters won't be 'wom.tng with silly - • The governor has sold out the Texas farmer to the Mexican vegetable growers, three legisla- tors on the Committee on Agricultural and Lifes-