Work is finally getting exciting! Not that the first few week weren't - I got to learn a lot about how environmental policy is made and the numerous interest groups that comprise "environmentalists" and "cornucopians" - but I was doing a lot of listening and reading, not so much doing. That's starting to change. I drafted my first action alert today about the upcoming Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS,or RES or RFS, depending on the crowd and the exact specs). Action alerts are where a form of communication we send via e-mail to "activists" across the country. We have over 200,000 people on our e-mail list who, when they receive an action alert, will send a letter to their member of Congress, urging them to support or fight an upcoming piece of legislation. It's crafted to both teach the activist a little bit about the context of the legislation and to reach out to members of Congress in a different way than a phone call from someone at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
It's a form of lobbying, different from actually meeting with a Representative or a Senator - that's direct lobbying. Action alerts are a form of indirect lobbying. Since we are a non-profit who lobbies, we must adhere to certain hourly restrictions on both our indirect and direct lobbying efforts. I never knew lobbying was so nuanced!
The action alert I drafted, as I mention above, concerns the RPS. Minnesota and many other states have such standards in place on the state level. They mandate that a certain portion of electricity generated comes from renewable energy, such as hydro, wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. For instance, Minnesota has enacted a 25% by 2025 bill, while Xcel Energy (go Dad!) has enacted a 30% by 2020 (with 25% coming from wind). Other states have similar pieces of legislation, although few are as ambitious as Minnesota's. The bill to be introduced to the House tomorrow will require that nationally, we get 25% of our energy from renewable sources by 2025. This is excluding any provisions for energy efficiency (a separate bill) which has previously sapped the actual percentage required in previous legislation (ex. a 4% offset from energy efficiency turns a 15% renewable requirement into an 11% one, boo).
At this point, you may wonder, "What percentage of electricity is renewable right now?"
Good question - despite the fact that in 2007, for the first time ever, renewable energy made up the largest portion of new electricity added to the grid (
EIA report), renewables make up only approximately 2.5% of our country's energy portfolio. And even with this encouraging sign that more sources of renewable energy are being created than ever before - we have yet to see the watershed moment of renewable energy. There will always be an artificial cap on the amount of renewable energy we will see in our current industry climate. Only with an RPS will companies be able to invest in the technologies requisite for widespread adoption and cost-effectiveness renewables will someday enjoy. Think about this - the average large-scale wind farm takes about 5-10 years, if not longer, from plan, design, and construct. This coincides with the average length of a CEO's tenure. You think they want to take this risk without reassurance of a future market? True, it would take about the same amount of time to get a coal-fired plant up and running (maybe longer if they get litigated) but at least there is a mature market for fossil fuels. They will take that bet and choose coal. Every time.
Which brings me to my second big project: studying engineering barriers to Carbon Capture and Storage/Sequestration (CCS). Since we rely on coal for almost half of our electricity in this country, and likely will for the foreseeable future, a serious discussion on the merits of CCS must be considered. Don't be fooled by Peabody Energy saying that clean coal is here now. It isn't. However, be careful not to be too persuaded by environmental groups that clean coal is not a viable option. Yes, coal has numerous environmental problems and is a major contributor to GHGs. But it is a fact that it will remain the cheapest energy option in this country for the next decade, if not longer. More money must be spent, both the government's and industry's, to investigate the technologies that will make CCS work, both environmentally and economically.
There are currently three forms of capture, each with various other subgroups: pre-combustion, post-combustion, and oxyfuel. Capturing the carbon dioxide from the gas resulting from the combustion of coal is the most expensive and technologically vexing portion of the CCS cycle. Often, the processes involved in capturing the climate change-causing gases significantly decrease the efficiency of the power plants (which are already only operating at ~40%, at best) thus increasing the amount of coal needed to produce the same amount of energy, all for an increased cost. You can see why companies are reluctant to adopt CCS technology at the present. The transportation of CO2 is not quite as difficult technologically, but it could still be expensive. The optimal scenario would have a viable place to pump the gas close to the plant, but only certain sites are suited, via their geologic properties, to sequester carbon dioxide. Transportation costs increase linearly with distance from the plant to the storage site. Current options for transporting are via pipeline and truck. Storing the carbon, by pumping it underground, into aquifers, old oil wells, and other geologically stable formations has yet to be tested on a large scale. There are several pilot operations currently studying this, but they can only store about 1 million tons of carbon dioxide a year - the average power plant produces 4 million tons a year, and there are a lot of them around the US! Once in the ground, experts are unsure about what will happen. The UN IPCC believes that 99% of the stored gas will remain underground for the next 100, even 1000 years, but much uncertainty remains. A slow leak from the storage chamber would negate the global warming benefit of storage in the first place. A rapid leak could kill you. Carbon dioxide could acidify groundwater, which could dissolve part of the cap rock or concrete well covers. Finally, the sheer scale of the operation and the monitoring of the site could prove very difficult to implement. That being said, we have to do something!
Trying to label coal as the enemy is the wrong course to chart. It seems as though people in the environmental community are so used to railing against the status quo they run the risk of dooming the ship they are trying, ultimately, to save. Of course renewable forms of energy are preferable over coal and we shouldn't quit fighting for their adoption and maturation because it will eventually change how we get our energy. But the key word is "eventually". We've got to work with the options at our disposal to develop viable CCS technologies because even if we forget about coal and focus only on renewable energy, any savings brought about by that will be overshadowed by an India and a China using antiquated coal-fired technology (they will account for 3X more coal usage than the U.S. in the coming decades). Invest in CCS and ensure that any technological advances that come out of it are shared with the rest of the world. Because this is not a national fight, it's a global one. Invest in CCS, but not at the expense of renewable energy. Companies will be slow to innovate if all of the research money flows to coal. It will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, that renewables are forever doomed, if sufficient money is not given towards their development alongside CCS.
These are just my thoughts, not connected necessarily to UCS, and I applaud you if you got this far down my blog. Here are some links to articles about carbon capture and sequestration technologies, if you are so inclined.
MIT: The Future of Coal IPCC (read the summary for policymakers)National Energy Technology Lab (a section of the Dept. of Energy)Union of Concerned Scientists
There were a few levels of ticket holders, people who got to stand or sit closer to the Capitol. I think about 250,000 tickets were distributed. We didn't get any of them, but we accidentally entered ticketed line which had snaked around this street that got blocked off at the end by a Metrobus. This snaked line prevented anyone from moving (see picture) anywhere and the people kept on coming despite the dead-end. 
One of the most surreal moments of my life then took place when, in the middle of this mass of humanity, none other than the Rev. Jesse Jackson decided to appear from a doorway (looking a little stunned, as you can see). He gave a quick smile, walked 3 feet away from me, and disappeared into the crowd. This only added to the chaos. Twenty minutes later, we all turned around after some jostling, and decided to chart a new course. We then lost Kate, who was smart and went to watch the events at home sans the gigantic crowd. 
Well, it doesn't look like much, but we see blocks and blocks of people walking without a roadblock in sight! Salvation is within our grasp. We get to the park near the WWII and Lincoln Memorials and we can finally move freely, but the crowd is pouring from the streets and we rush to find a spot to stand near a jumbo tron. What a spectacle - tens, hundreds of thousands of people cascading onto the dormant grass around some of the most recognizable landmarks our nation has to offer. All to see one man. I'll post a little bit about the actual event later, but it's back to the daily grind tomorrow, so I should sleep. I have some cool videos to share too, so stay tuned. It's going to be a good four years.
Whenever I found myself with a good vantage point, I surveyed the crowd around me. It was inspiring to see people of all walks of life, from the well-dressed elite to, well, everyone else, all converging to this one spot to catch a glimpse of our next president. The crowd was silent as Obama took the stage, commanding yet reassuring even from a jumbotron hundreds of yards away, standing in the freezing cold. You could tell that despite the myriad troubles we face that we as a country, as a people united in this tough time, we want to believe that this man will guide us to a better, more respected America. Anyone standing in that crowd would've done anything President Obama asked of us at that moment. I have a feeling he will ask us to sacrifice more than anyone in my generation has ever been asked to sacrifice. I hope we will be smart and thoughtful when we decide how to answer that call. 
I walk to Union Station, which takes about 15 minutes. It's a nice walk through residential streets lined on both sides with century-old brick row houses, each uniquely decorated. After I walk to the grand architectural edifice that is Union Station, I take the Metro subway red line to Farragut North. That takes about 6 minutes when the trains are on time (which they usually are). The Metro takes me right to K Street, about 2 blocks from the office. Work starts later out here, which is fine with me! Nine or 9:30 until 5:15 and then it's back home or to the coffee shop. 
It's an early 20th century brick row house in the neighborhood called, depending on the source, Capitol Hill North, Near Northeast, Atlas District, H-Street, or Murderer's Row (kidding). From what I hear, much of my neighborhood was destroyed during the race riots stemming from the assassination of MLK in '68. It remains in a decrepit state for about 30 years, until redevelopment (and the accompanying gentrification) began in the late '90's. I now live on a street that is slowly taking part in gentrification, the heroin user next door is gone, and BMWs, Mercedes, and other yuppie cars are slowly replacing the Broncos and Buicks of old. 
It is all decked out for the Inauguration, which is only a week away! The bleachers are set up on the steps and two giant flags hang draped from the windows above. Porta-Potties are beginning to be lined up around the reflecting pool and on the Mall. I think they will need a lot more than are currently there, or the bowel movements of 2-4 million people will be severely under served. Not a good thing. After thinking about that subject, I did a quick loop around the National Mall and headed home. Total time, just under 50 minutes. I can't believe I can step out of my house and run past these famous landmarks! Perhaps the grandest revelation of my run was that Capitol Hill really is situated on a pretty big hill. Blame some of my hardship on being out of shape, but I think the grandness of the building overshadows the hill. I was really out of breath by the time I got to the top...
