Ever seen a face that just seems all-too-familiar? Not unusual for me at the regular ACORE policy forums here on Capitol Hill. The American Council On Renewable Energy tends to bring in The Usual Suspects for its major events, big guns like Google's Dan Reicher and this year's keynotes, White House Climate Advisor Carol Browner and Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman. So in addition to getting in on some deep policy discussions, I tend to see a lot of familiar faces there.

Recently, I was researching something through the ACORE website and caught a glimpse of someone I thought I knew. The picture was in a rotating series of photos, so I had a few seconds to consider exactly whom I'd seen before the pic returned to the screen. The owner of the face that spoke so poignantly to me? Well, his mug's right in the middle of the above landscape.

Turns out ACORE was promoting this year's policy forum agenda with shots of last year's event. And at last year's event, as you can see, I interviewed Iowa Governor Chet Culver. Apparently, during our conversation about the wind and ethanol industries in his home state, someone snapped a few photos. Nice shots, too.

Notice that I'm eye-to-eye with the Governor? Kind of unusual at 6'4", when interviewing politicians (or anyone outside the NBA, I guess). Turns out Gov. Culver is a fellow Virginia college football alum, though he played in The Big Time at Virginia Tech.

Hokie, Hokie, High.

A VIP Viewer

Day One of the National Energy Summit. The Council on Competitiveness is the host. The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC is the site. We're broadcasting the entire two-day event live and I'm hosting our coverage.

The man to my left in the above pic is Dr. John Holdren. Officially, he's Special Advisor to The President on Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy. Unofficially, he's probably the most controversial member of the Obama Green Team. Obviously, I'm pretty amped for this interview.

As we're getting situated for the shoot, I'm running through the details with Dr. Holdren, explaining that our viewers are especially well-versed in energy and climate issues. He stops me mid-sentence and says, "I know. I'm one of them."

Yes. Dr. John Holdren, the man who has the President's ear on Sci & Tech issues is a Clean Skies News viewer. Validation is sweet.

You can catch our coverage and interviews with some of the major players from both the private and public sectors at CleanSkies.com.

The Climate of Congress

Cash For Clunkers is in the rearview mirror. Health Care Reform is looming large on the horizon. And Climate Legislation is, um...Well, where exactly on the legislative map is the long-promised Senate cap-&-trade bill?

I can't help but think of the current Congressional recess as something of a Christmas Break for lawmakers. One year, before I left junior high, our school's Powers That Be decided mid-term exams would be held after Christmas vacation. All the better to study during those two-weeks of free time, right? The result was papers and tests before the holiday, exams immediately afterward, and a foreboding feeling every minute in between (when we weren't watching the respective Thermo Misers doing their annually televised pagan dances).

That's where members of Congress seem to be right now. They're tucked away in their home districts with relatively safe votes on the CARS Program in their back pockets, but Big Things are lying ahead almost always in the backs of their minds. And, naturally, much of the country is wondering if Climate Legislation is indeed A Big Thing this year.

I know, I know...a long preamble to what was a promised delivery, my interview with Kenneth Green on The Energy Report. He co-authored a Washington Post op-ed on the likelihood that the Senate will take up a climate bill this fall and whether it will have enough momentum to pass. And, surprisingly enough from a conservative think tank, Ken and fellow AEI scholar Steven Hayward both see the merit in one Senate Democrat's mostly overlooked climate proposal.

By the way, not only is Ken an enviro scientist who has worked with the UN's IPCC, he's also a Valley Guy. Yep, straight from the San Fernando Valley. Not that the former UCLA Bruin has any Val-Gal accent.

And since I did make the reference, is now a good time to take nominees for the lawmakers who most resemble the Heat and Cold Misers? I mean, we do have another two weeks before Washington awakens.

That'll Do, Prez. That'll Do.

Wow, what a terrible reference to James Cromwell's most famous movie line, I apologize. The dialogue from Babe actually reads, "That'll do, pig, That'll do."

You remember, right? He plays Arthur Hoggett, the farmer?

C'mon, he earned an Academy Award nomination for the role!

If you have a child younger than 15, surely you've seen the film.

Anyway, I unearthed these pictures of James Cromwell from his not-too-recent visit to the Clean Skies News studios. He's teaming up with the group Beyond Nuclear to advocate against a US nuclear generation build-out, against uranium mining, and against any kind of weapons proliferation. You can catch Susan's entire interview with Cromwell on The Energy Report. Their conversation starts about 13 minutes into the newscast.

Yeah, he's pushing an unabashedly liberal series of causes. But whether you agree or not, Cromwell does seem to have a good grasp of the relevant talking points and is patient enough to state his case with civility. That's not necessarily standard when you consider some of the other issues advocates from Hollywood who hit The Hill here in Washington.

Utterly unrelated to the energy conversation at hand though it may be, James Cromwell couldn't have been nicer. He posed for pics with almost everyone in our newsroom (maybe two dozen photos). He talked about life as a nearly 6'6" actor (bigger challenge than you might think). He endured my remark that I'd just watched his scene from Revenge of the Nerds on TV a few nights earlier ("I've got the old cruise control set at 35."). I did, however, manage to refrain from telling him how strong his performance was in L.A. Confidential.

And if you do watch the first report (on domestic transmission issues) from that edition of The Energy Report, you'll get a look at a decidedly now-outdated haircut of mine. I think Long Duk Dong put it best in Sixteen Candles: "Flat?"

I guess I need to end this post with another cinematic apology, since I couldn't get the actual Gedde Watanabe quote. At least that one is from the same scene.

Complaints From the Car Coach

Recognize her? Not even given the fact that she's behind the wheel? OK, well, I probably wouldn't have either. But I bet you know her voice.

Lauren Fix is The Car Coach. She's online, on the radio, and all over cable these days talking about Cash For Clunkers. Suffice it to say she's not a fan.

This morning I talked to Lauren during The Energy Report and we had the chance to really dig deep into some of the complaints about the CARS program. From the Right: new car buyers are choosing Detroit's vehicles only 45% of the time so far. From the Left: an average of 61% better fuel efficiency between trade-ins and new vehicles isn't enough. And from Lauren: we're trashing car parts that could be put back on the market.

Despite The Car Coach's protestations, President Obama signed the funding extension bill this morning. The Administration says that means that roughly 14 hours after the Senate passed the $2-billion measure, Clunkers now has enough money to run through Labor Day. Then again, the government predicted that the original $1-billion in funding would last until November.

Lauren also dropped another tidbit, one that had me sputtering to get more specific information out of her. You can see what she said in our interview here, at CleanSkies.com.

A "General" Climate Discussion

Before we started our interview for this weekend's edition of Clean Skies Sunday, I talked with Sen. John Warner(R-VA) about how he'd like me to introduce him.

"The leading Republican voice on climate issues?" I asked.

Nope. That gave him too much credit, he said.

"How about, One of the leading Republican voices on climate issues?"

Not that either. Might upset his former Senate colleagues.

"OK," I nodded. "Let's go with, One of the leading Republican voices on climate legislation. Fair enough?"

Given that he sponsored two Senate climate bills during his final three years in office, including the only climate bill to pass out of committee, Senator Warner acquiesced. But only on objective grounds.

Great conversation with him about global warming's potential effects on the military, the immediate future of climate legislation, and his current work with the Pew Environment Center. The whole thing is here at CleanSkies.com.

As for this picture, it's a snapshot of three Generals. Washington & Lee University Generals. From left: me (W&L Class of 1991), our photojournalist/director Ian McAllister (W&L Class of 2002), Sen. Warner (W&L Class of 1949).

The West Is The Best

Those accolades for The West, specifically California in this case, are less about geography than accomplishment in this mention.

I just finished moderating two of the four panels at the Western Energy Summit in Mountain View, just outside San Jose. That's my tiny image in the middle of the head table, black suit, surrounded by great minds and impressive titles. One of the main themes at the summit,"California clean-tech research rocks!" That's my paraphrasing at work and not the official session title, as you might guess. In any event, it's difficult to argue against relevant accomplishments of the California public and private sectors.

(here's a link to the Western Energy Summit agenda)

Among the panelists during my two sessions, the directors of the Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories. Also on hand, additional big guns from NREL, Berkeley, and Livermore. Remember, this is the atmosphere in which Steven Chu not only emerged to become Energy Secretary but also where he won his Nobel Prize. Impressive advancements seem to abound at the labs, though much of the accomplishments fly under the radar. Perhaps that's preferable for the work horses behind the glass.

(links for Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories)

During my sessions, we found some clear areas of consent among these participants. Whether you compare it to The Manhattan Project or The Apollo Project, the clean energy revolution carries great urgency and gravitas. Secretary Chu is the right kind of leader to give the labs what they need to rise to the energy and environmental challenges we're now facing. One of our greatest resources, and one that is easy to take for granted, lies within the talent and potential of U.S. students. Indeed.

We have a few of my interviews with summit panelists up right now on our website, with more discussion to follow. Also, by August 3rd we should have both of the panels I moderated available in their entirety. You can find everything at CleanSkies.com.

If you didn't recognize it, the inspiration for the title of this particular post comes from "The End" by The Doors. Man, it's astounding to me that Jim Morrison's lyrics about the blessings of The West and the seven-mile snake were published 42 years ago. Seems like far less to me, but then again my generation's mass introduction to The Doors came from Val Kilmer playing The Lizard King in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie.

Val's hair was perfect for the part.

What's In Waxman?

OK, so now that I've read that Post Title again, it occurs to me that the current health care debate may prompt you to consider the question literally. What is in Henry Waxman, and how much should you have to pay for the MRI to find out under a viable health care plan ?

No, I probably should've titled this "What's In the Waxman-Markey ACES Act Climate Legislation And What Does It Mean To Me?" But that's not especially wieldy, is it? And my current blog template doesn't especially encourage such character-rich titles. So, what is in Waxman?

This week, I attended a "power breakfast" (The National Journal Group's name for the event, not mine) with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has just lobbed a 1,400-page climate bill over to the Senate and now he's coiling to send a health care measure that way as well. Oh, and he has a new book to shill. Here's the portion of his discussion dealing with climate change legislation.

Anyway, the question about Waxman-Markey comes from a former classmate of mine, Alain Nana-Sinkam. In his words, "What should a layperson like me know about this bill?" Clearly, Alain's a curious and thoughtful taxpayer. And he was a terrific high school small forward, I should add.

So, let's approach this from a taxpayer's point of view. In short, are you willing to pay more for your electricity to cut our country's carbon emissions? Kind of depends upon your take on the cause of global warming, I suppose. And it certainly depends on how much that "more" really turns out to be. There, simply put, is where the political divide is focused.

Opponents of the climate bill (and more specifically, opponents of a cap-&-trade emission reduction plan) say you, American Taxpayer, will see significant jumps in your expenses. The Heritage Foundation's analysis of the legislation (the mid-May version) predicts The ACES Act would raise the average family's energy bill $1,500 and your inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by almost 75%. If you'd like to hear both sides of that contention, I moderated a debate between one of the report's authors, Dr. David Kreutzer, and Public Citizen's Tyson Slocum on The Energy Report back in May.

Then there's the testimony the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee heard this week from members of the Obama Administration. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said her agency and the CBO estimate the average family's "net cost" to be less than 50-cents a day by 2020, or roughly $180 a year. Then Energy Secretary Steven Chu cited the same sources, but came up with an annual coast of 22-cents to 48-cents a day ($80-$175).

So, like most well-contested issues here in Washington, it may be a matter of whom you believe. I'm not taking sides here, but Secretary Chu is a Nobel-prize winning scientist. So I assume he's, you know, pretty good with numbers and all.

Oh, and an addendum to this lengthy answer to your original question, Alain. Majority Leader Harry Reid just pushed back his timeline for bringing the Senate version of a cap-&-trade bill to the floor, so maybe we'll revisit this conversation when next year's version of the climate bill moves through the House.

You can catch my coverage of the discussion with Rep. Waxman and his response to my question about the cap-and-trade revenue lost under his plan on the Clean Skies News site. Here's the first story, a q-&-a immediately after the event. And then the more complete piece from that day's edition of The Energy Report.

"An American In Paris" (or "An American Roughly 230 Miles West-by-Northwest of Paris")

Dan Harper is as American as they come, as apple pie as they make them in The South. Grew up in small-town Alabama. Loves his college football, and thinks his Auburn Tigers are gonna be even better this season. Now he's making a career out of helping the U.S. get more energy.

Thing is, he's doing it in France. On the Contentin Peninsula of Normandy, to be more precise. And even more accurately, Dan's learning his trade on-site at Areva's La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Yep, a long, long way from The Plains of 'Bama.

Simply put, France reprocesses its spent nuclear fuel. Some striking numbers, from Areva. The process turns up to 96% of what would be nuclear waste into reusable nuclear fuel. That means only the leftover 4%, the really nasty stuff, has to be stored.

Here's my recent story about how the French Nuclear Industry does it and why we don't. Yet.

As for Dan's War Eagles, CollegeFootballPoll.com projects Auburn to 507, 5th in the SEC West. Tough schedule for the Tigers.

Sharp Dressed Man (no, not me)

Pictured: (from left): Clean Skies chief correspondent Tyler Suiters, who always seems to blink when a camera flashes; Clean Skies communications director Jim Allen, who was the best-dressed man in the house.

Location: Blue Duck Tavern, 24th and M Street NW, Washington, DC

Occasion: The American News Women's Club Roast & Toast for Katie Couric, winner of the Helen Thomas Award for Excellence in Journalism or Outstanding Public Service.

Note: Jim has a great deal of experience in out-dressing everyone in the room, given his impressive career in music. Just take a look at this Rick Astley video and focus on the handsome guy gettin' his groove on the keyboard: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmgB7qVh0-w If you can't sit through The Rick doing his thing, Jim's highlights are about :50 into the video.

Behind the Scenes, In Front of the Scene

Foreground: Clean Skies News Photojournalist Ian McCallister performing one of the tasks not expressly listed within his job description, making me look sharper than I am.

Background (not pictured): Flamanville-3, the EPW nuclear reactor Areva is currently building for Electricite de France.

The low wall you see behind Ian and me is a retainer that separates a winding, two-lane road from the short beach of Flamanville, France. We're facing north, with the EDF Flamanville nuclear generation site behind us. That's also where Areva is building a third reactor for the plant, but because of EDF press restrictions while the reactor is under construction, this is as close we we could get to shoot video. And by "close", I mean more than 1/4-mile from the site.

We're about to tape a "stand-up" segment for our future story on reactor design and the potential for a nuclear build-out here in the U.S. Because of EDF's restrictions, and our own travel schedule, Ian and I had roughly five minutes to set-up our camera, get this microphone on my collar, and start knocking out intelligible stand-ups. Pressure? Nah, not after some of the things we've both experienced cutting our teeth in local news.

The result: two good takes worthy of airtime, one take interrupted by a passing bus, and a timely arrival at the nearby train station to catch our ride back to Paris. Oh, and the anticipated rush of adrenaline that comes from meeting a rock-hard deadline.

My celebratory meal? A protein bar and a quart of 2% milk. Couldn't find any skim at the local market.

Posting By The Palace

 Whether you parlez vous Francais ou no, you might be able to put a make on this Mercure sign. Yep, that's a hotel. And that's me striking a not-so-medieval French pose in the 14th-Century town of Avignon.

 

 This is Day Two for us on a special-access tour of French nuclear facilities, all of them run by one of the world leaders in nuclear energy AREVA. In fact, the French company bills itself as the only fully-integrated nuclear company in the entire world. 

 Rare air, indeed.  And CO2-free air as well, so to speak, since nuclear power generates electricity without producing significant CO2 emissions. That's the major selling point for proponents in the U.S right now, including some very big names in Congress (John McCain, among them). 

 If The President gets his way and we implement a cap-&-trade system to limit our carbon emissions, the nuclear option for power generation could become more attractive than ever. Especially interesting, given that last month was the 30th anniversary of the partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island.

 Photojournalist Ian McAllister and I visited nuclear sites in five French towns last week, sites that represent various stages in the nuclear energy production process. Stick around, and I'll show you what we saw. Unusual sights inside plants, impressive scale of reactor components, and occasional unsettling proximity to potentially dangerous material.

 As for our stay at The Mercure in Avignon? Well, you're looking at my final few minutes there. I'm standing/working about 50 yards from Les Palais de Papes, the 14th Century home of the Avignon Papacy as an alternate to Rome.

 Want more details? Try this site: http://www.palais-des-papes.com/anglais/index.html. We arrived in town after the palace closed for the day and left before it opened the following morning, so I have little to reference about the Les Palais. Other than Le Mutardier across the square has some creative dishes.

A Tiger and His Tale

 This is the tale of Samuel, an up-and-coming Northern Virginia Tiger Cub clawing for his next badge. That's him between me and Susan, the only one of us not wearing eye concealer.

 Well, Samuel needed to meet his scouting communication requirement. And since his dad Tim and I have an Oklahoma connection, Samuel tapped us. So the whole family, Samuel's three younger siblings included, spent an afternoon at the Clean Skies TV studios watching our team in action. Personally, I think Samuel's mom deserves a merit badge of her own for keeping all the youngsters entertained and occupied during the newscast.

 He's only six, but I get the feeling Samuel has "Eagle Scout" written all over him. No pressure there, huh, Tim?

How Mad Is John McCain?

 Let me start by making it clear that John McCain is not mad at me. In fact, during our conversation yesterday he was rather polite and thoughtful. But it seems clear that he is indeed mad. Quite mad. At the Obama Administration.

 Comparing our experiences over recent weeks, our executive editor Margaret Ryan and I concluded that from what we've seen, Sen. McCain has taken every opportunity to just hammer administration officials during hearings. The trend continued at the Senate Energy Committe's hearing on nuclear energy development. This time Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Dale Klein was in the crosshairs.

 Sen. McCain, like many other committee members who attended the hearing, wanted to complain about the White House "taking Yucca Mountain off the table." First, some background. More than 20 years ago, Congress designated Yucca as the nation's nuclear waste repository. "The" repository, as in, "The one and only place within the U.S. that we have for long-term storage!" But that law has not stopped Senate majority leader Harry Reid from doing what he can to keep the waste our of his home state (Nevada). And it didn't stop the current administration from declaring Yucca Mountain as essentially a non-viable site.

 You can see what he had to say to me about the administration, and specifically its decision on the Yucca Mountain repository, on the Clean Skies TV website. My story (and my conversation with Sen. McCain) is on the March 18th edition of The Energy Report in our Interactive Programming Guide.

 Now, Sen. McCain pressed Klein on the issue, asking him, "Are you operating under the assumption that Yucca Mountain will become a reality?" When Klein didn't respond directly, McCain asked again with emphasis, "Are you operating under the assumption that Yucca Mountain will become a reality?" Eventually, Klein said, "We are not counting on Yucca Mountain being successful." So there.

 Then, Sen. McCain honed in on security issues. His point? Having dozens and dozes of dry-cask storage sites across the country poses a much greater security risk than having a single, well-guarded site for nuclear waste. But, as he said to needle the Obama administration, "that's not gonna happen."

 While we're talking Nuclear with a capital N, Dale Klein shared a few predictions during his testimony and afterward during a conversation outside the hearing room. He expects all 104 U.S. reactors to be successfully relicensed and still operating in the 20 years. The first new reactor to come online will most likely be Southern Company's Vogtle unit in Georgia. And there is no way any new reactor will be providing any electricity generation before the year 2016. So sit tight if you're clamoring for a low-carbon economy.

 Interestingly, Sen McCain initially said that he didn't have time for my questions as he left the hearing room in DOB at a brisk walk. But not three seconds passed before he promptly stopped dead in his stride, performed a 180, and said that, sure, he could answer a few of my questions about the hearing. Oh, and after out interview the senator actually apologized to me for being rude. 

 He's not a Virginian by birth, but the senior senator from Arizona has always acted like A Gentlemen during our conversations.

 Here's a link to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's website, where you can find the opening statements from the NRC's Dale Klein and other witnesses on developing nuclear energy.

Preaching The Pickens Plan

Yep, that's a pic of me and T. Boone himself. And, hey, which one of us did you recognize first? No, that's not a question born out of personal insecurity. But while we're on the topic, how does my make-up look, anyway?

For all of his billions of dollars, his runaway financial success and energy-field endeavors, and his profile as the nation's record-breaking university donor, did you know who T. Boone Pickens was nine months ago, much less what he looked like? Hell, I know someone who covers energy for a living and thought the man's name was actually "T-Bone." Pickens is from Texas, cattle country, after all.

Well, that's what a $60-million p.r. campaign (his number) can do for you. With the unfurling of The Pickens Plan last summer, Boone has introduced himself to the nation at large. And now you Oklahomans and Wall Street Watchers aren't the only ones to tilt your heads toward him when he's speaking.

The basics? I'd be surprised if you don't know them already, given all the nightly news appearances and newspaper editorials. Still, he reiterated them (and to some extent reworked the emphasis) during this week's speech at the EnergyBiz Leadership Forum here in DC.

Boone wants Wind energy to generate 22% of our nation's electricity. Got that, 22%? The EIA says in 2006 wind accounted for a little more than one-quarter of 1% of U.S. energy consumption.

According to Pickens, what we need is new transmission lines (many, many, many new lines) to carry the electricity from turbines to customers. And he's right. When you see federal funding bills for new transmission this year, you can bet Wind is one of the driving factors. Lately, he has added some Solar to this part of his plan.

The other half of Pickens' preaching seems more easily attainable to me. Use Natural Gas as a bridge fuel for transportation. Get us off of foreign oil and carry us for a few decades until we have commercially-viable vehicle battery technology. As the saying goes, Natural Gas is "Affordable, Abundant, and American."

Plus, Boone has an influential advocate in the White House. No, not him. When Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was in the upper echelons of Democratic House leadership, he supported Natural Gas as a transportation fuel. Apparently, Rahm even inserted language supporting the infrastructure transition in the Dems' stalled House energy bill last year. Boone is tweaking this part of the pitch a bit, now emphasizing Natural Gas for the commercial sector.

And, lo and behold, just today AT&T announced it's going with Natural Gas, spending $565 million over a decade on 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles ($350 million of which will buy 8,000 compressed natural gas vehicles). An article on Fortune.com says, "...the purchase is smart economics.

Back to the pic with Boone and, yes, Cowboy fans, I'm wearing a black suit with an orange tie. And, well, OK I'll admit it...I always wear orange and black when I know I'll be interviewing Boone. As much as he enjoys talking about The Pickens Plan, my best conversations with him inevitably seem to involve Oklahoma State athletics.

By the way, Boone tells me the Cowboys' Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon is the one game from last season that bothers him the most. And did you know QB Zac Robinson sustained a concussion and a separated shoulder? So says Boone. The Cowboys' home stadium does bear his name, after all.

CNN Money posted the Fortune.com article here: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/green/2009_03_11_att_to_make_massive_natural_gas_vehicle_purchase.html

And the Washington Post's Dana Milbank ran a biting commentary on Boone's recent speech at EnergyBiz. Keep in mind that Pickens made many of these quoted comments in tongue-in-cheek fashion. Understanding a little bit about Boone's Texas and Oklahoma roots, I like to think I got the jokes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030902463.html

Finally, here's a look ahead at Pickens' beloved OSU Cowboys' 2009 schedule:
http://www.okstate.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=200&KEY=&SPID=143&SPSID=1420

Right, What the *#$@ is a Gaggle?

You know, I had the feeling I'd be posting this Note even as I was chipping away on my last Update. "Gaggle" holds one meaning for a goose, another for a journailst. Although, truth be told, there is an unconfortably common thread between both.
Let's start by defining another media term, "Avail," short for availability. If someone is willing to talk to us after an event or announcement (and let's face it, who in Washington doesn't want to expound further upon what they just spent 30 minutes expaining?), their press team will let us know that there will be an Avail afterward. This is often a good chance to ask a specific question or two that may require follow-ups. Generally, there is some order to the Q&A session.
The Gaggle is a much-better attended, but much-less dignified, version of the Avail used when many correspondents and reporters want a piece of someone. The media is herded together, securely corralled, and left to wait patiently for our quarry. Then, once said luminary arrives to face the cameras, the questions and queries come flying from all quarters. The process is potentially unsettling to the uninitiated, like Dr. Chu, and certainly uncivilized for even the well-adjusted.
Adding to the indignity is the fact that we're all so damn competitive that we let ourselves get hopped up on adrenaline in our rush to wedge in a question, the result of which is outright shouting to defeat the cacophony of undoubtedly less-insightful questions being flung about so carelessly.
This is merely an objective observation, but this journalist was the very first to shout at...ah, that is, have his question successfully recognized by Steven Chu at that particular Gaggle. Though I think that's less a testament to my tenacity than it is the result of being 6'4" and having played enough basketball to know how to box out your opponents.
I took this pic with Ian McAllister's cell (he's in the kelly green sweater) of The Assembled Media in the subterranean depths of the Washington Renaissance Hotel about 5 minutes before Secretary Chu broke free from a meeting. The Gaggle looked, and in this case smelled, like a small horde of hoofed herbivores.

The Chu Gaggle. Washington Renaissance Hotel. Wednesday, February 18th, 2009.

R-P-S...Easy as 1-2-3?

"R.P.S." The acronym now being batted around Washington isn't nearly as intimidating to the uninitiated as the full name, Renewable Portfolio Standard. If your response remains, Huh?, well, the principle actually isn't all that complex.

We're talking about electricity generation, most of which comes from burning natural gas or coal, or using nuclear heat, to fire generation turbines. So, how much generation do we get from renewable resources (wind, solar, biomass)? Now that's where this gets complicated.

The idea of an RPS is to establish a minimum amount of total generation that must come from renewable sources. 27 states now have these standards in place, as does the District of Columbia. But, as Energy Ventures Analysis principal Tom Hewson explains to me, "With 28 different regional RPS out there, that means there are 28 different ways of calculating an RPS." In short, the definitions vary as to what qualifies as a renewable generation source.

Barack Obama has pushed his idea of a national RPS ever since he unveiled his New Energy for America plan on the campaign trail. He wants us to reach at 10% standard by 2012, and 20% by 2025. Now, six months later, that Plan became an Agenda and is on the verge of becoming Policy. The thing is, the Energy Information Administration says renewable energy accounted for just 7% of our energy consumption in 2007. And more than one-third of that was from hydroelectricity, not necessarily a renewable resource. Getting to 10% in three years simply might not be possible.

This week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee discussed Chairman Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) Democratic Staff Draft on a "Renewable Electricity Standard," the same principle as an RPS. Sen. Bingaman has indicated this kind of legislation should be a precursor to climate-change legislation, and his point is valid. Forcing states to draw on renewable energy, and scaling back on coal-fired generation, goes hand-in-hand with capping their CO2 emissions.

Sen. Bingaman's set of standards would establish lower (or, if you prefer, more realistic) goals for renewable generation than the White House. He wants to start with a seemingly reachable goal of a 4% RPS by 2012, less than half the President's target. Then, as technology and transmission catch up, the senator expects to get 20% of our electricity from renewable generation by 2021.

Honestly, after talking with Jeff Bingaman and getting a glimpse of his pragmatic approach to both crafting and passing this legislation, I can envision his bill landing in the Oval Office and getting an welcome, inky reception. That is, if his plan survives a potential conference committee showdown with Rep. Ed Markey's (D-MA) pending RPS legislation, a bill that promises loftier goals more along the lines of the President's plan.

You can read Sen. Jeff Bingaman's Discussion Draft here, on his committee's website: http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueItems.View&IssueItem_ID=07730eb9-369e-4d57-8fc1-3e3b9fc42bec

The White House Energy & Environment Agenda outlines the President's Renewable Portfolio Standard goals here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/

Inaugurating Responsibility

Inaugural addresses are more poetry than policy, at least when juxtaposed to State-of-the-Union addresses. Today through occasionally poetic and always carefully chosen words, the 44th President of the United States made at least five references to his plans for environmental and energy policies. So, reading between the lines in chronological order:

1) "...each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet": I can't count how many times then-Senator Obama mentioned breaking "our dependence on foreign oil" during his campaign. It remains a central theme for his administration, pushing for alternative vehicle fuels (bios and natural gas) and plug-in hybrid technology.

2) "We will restore science to its rightful place...": What I regard as a not-so-subtle swipe at EPA policy (or lack thereof) during the Bush Administration. This was also a popular topic among democratic senators on the EPW Committee during Lisa Jackson's confirmation hearing.

3) "We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories": The Obama-Biden New Energy for America Plan spells this out simply. A Renewable Portfolio Standard of 10% by 2012 and 25% by 2025. Right now, depending on what you define as "renewable energy", we're at about 5%.


4) " With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to...roll back the specter of a warming planet": Not if, but when we'll see climate change legislation. The New Energy Plan called for a cap-and-trade system in August and hasn't wavered on that. I think Henry Waxman, now chair of House Energy, may take the lead on this rather than Senate EPW chair Barbara Boxer. Rep. Waxman is predicting a cap-and-trade bill out of his committee in May.

5) "...nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect": Does that mean "clean coal" (the word's Barack Obama has used throughout the campaign) or bust for the coal industry? Incoming Energy Secretary Steven Chu does not seem to be an optimist about CCS technology.

The theme of "Change" carried Barack Obama's team through the primaries, the summer campaign, and the transition. "Change" was at times a battle cry, a mission statement, and a victory chant. But with the assumption of The White House, "Change" is giving way to "Responsibility".

A parting thought from President Barack Obama: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility."

Here's the link to what the White House calls "The Agenda: Energy & Environment": http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/