After an interesting biomass forum yesterday, today was another exciting chapter to my DC life. At 9 I went to the National Press Club, which is located near the White House on the 13th floor in a pretty ornate building. After pocketing a few napkins with the official emblem, I listened to a panel discussing wind energy in a forum hosted by the Farm Foundation. An energy researcher, a farmer/wind turbine owner, a county commissioner from Montana, and a higher up trade association member were the panelists. They were obviously supportive of the wind industry as well as the upcoming RES legislation which would mandate renewable energy, but with a healthy skepticism and pragmatism I found refreshing.
I did manage to get cornered before the meeting began by an energy economist from the Treasury Department. He was short, maybe 5'5", wore a $100 bill tie, and obviously took pleasure in being an asshole. Oh well, this city's full of them - renewable energy-bashing, $100 bill tie-wearing, 5'5" assholes! Until that guy, I'd never heard of the argument that renewable energy is blase because people used to use sailing ships and abandoned them in favor of steam-powered ships. Not the same argument. But oh well, he's in the minority.
After that forum, I headed out to the Dirksen Senate Building for a hearing on the federal renewable electricity standard (RES) called by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. I came in a bit late since I was at the wind forum when it began, but I got to see about 45 minutes of it. The room was like you would expect a Senate hearing room to be. Dark wood trimmings, a semi-circular desk where the Senators sat, plush leather chairs for the audience, and a rectangular desk for the people testifying. Since I got in late, the only place for me to sit was at the press table. Everyone had their laptops out, chronicling the event for their publications. One perk to sitting with the press - small dishes of green M&Ms. Who knew?
All in all, a pretty interesting day - only possible here in DC (and did I mention it was in the 60's too). My feet really hurt since I walked halfway across town in uncomfortable dress shoes, but it was a small price to pay. Here's to more interesting days in the future.
Senate RES draft (Bingaman)
House RES bill (Markey-Platts)
Senate hearing webcast
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