Behind the Curtain

Wasn't that the moment when Dorothy realized that The Wizard was full of it? She peered behind the curtain and discovered what really went into creating this particular "power."

Nothing nearly so nefarious here. But given the extenuating circumstances we faced putting together this week's edition of Clean Skies Sunday, I thought a peek behind our virtual curtain might be worth a laugh.

First, take a look at the show (posted above). Good interview about the environmental realities of the Gulf spill, a look into BP's most attractive sale items if it needs to start raising cash, plus a talk with one of the many authors of the next UN Climate Report (the last one led to a Nobel Prize).

OK, next take a look at the pictures below of the taping process. We're revamping our Capitol Hill studio, so our old set is out of commission and our new set is still in the some-assembly-required stage. The result? A jerry-rigged lighting grid, no Teleprompter, and me squatting/sitting in front of a gigantic big-screen TV (I'm taller than the monitor). And the ladder? That's my make-shift desk.

So, what happens behind our Clean Skies News curtain? We make sausage, of course.

A True Juggling Act

Ever seen The Flying Karamazov Brothers? A rotating cast of characters plays the same four roles, Russian Guys who can juggle anything. And they do exactly that, based on audience participation. When I saw them, I think one of them juggled a bowling ball, a Spider-Man action figure, and a stick of butter. Sick.

Anyway, I'm doing my best Karamazov impersonation right now by juggling The Energy Report, a handful of Clean Skies Sunday interviews, and a Sunday story on what could be a bit of a BP fire sale. Whew!

So while I have so many journalistic balls in the air, here's a look at last week's show. I think our product came out especially well, especially since Susan McGinnis had to make an emergency trip to the Disabled List.

Oh, and here's the aforementioned FKB in action. Almost as mind-boggling as deciphering the more than 1,300 pages of the EPA's Transport Rule proposal. Ouch.

How Washington Works (Or Doesn't)

The biggest lines at The Capitol tend to involve "Mark-Ups," the sessions in which lawmakers discuss and decide the fate of pending legislation. Seems like everyone with a horse in the race wants an ear in the door. That means lobbyists, reps, players (and their stand-ins) are eager to get inside the hearing room.

With a big committee like this one (House Energy & Commerce) comes big jurisdiction and big, broad bills. So, no surprise that this pic gives you an indication of the full house in attendance this day. Not many seats left in the audience, though you can tell more than a few committee members decided they didn't need to be here. Oh, well...it takes less time to count the votes after each proposed amendment that way.

On this day I was following an amendment we expected Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) to introduce, legislation involving the natural gas production technique called hydrofracking. Without getting too "land man" on this, she wants E&P companies to be forced to disclose what's in their fracking fluids (insert punchline here). Trouble is, leadership won't let her bill hit the floor. So she wanted to try something of an end run by introducing the plan and as amendment.

As it turns out, the K Street defense knew all about Rep. DeGette's end run and was in perfect position. Thanks to an eleventh-hour arm-twisting session the night before, seems that lobbyists convinced E&C Committee Chairman Henry Waxman to ask that the Congresswoman withdraw her amendment, even though she apparently had enough votes in place to pass her amendment.

So, bottom line, there wasn't even a vote on the plan. But, in true legislative fashion, lawmaker spent roughly 30 minutes discussing the merits of the amendment. Yeah, even though Rep. DeGette agreed to pull her amendment almost everyone in the room felt the need to outline how they feel about the amendment that was not going to be introduced. And in a flash, half an hour evaporates without anything actually happening. Not that Congress has much no do anyway, right?

Nonetheless, the Washington Nationals are playing .500 baseball right now so you can certainly argue that our town still has its redeeming qualities.

!Viva, La Presidente!

I haven't been any good at Spanish since I was 21 and working at a Sport & Health club with a Guatemalan friend. Pero ahora, yo no practico nunca. Que lastima.

Anyway, that's why I didn't even attempt to say anything in Christiana Figueres' native tongue. The Costa Rican national is now the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yep, now you know why everyone in our enviro circles just calls the position "UN Climate Chief."

Christiana had been unofficially on the job for roughly two hours when I invited her to our studios for an interview. Seemed rational, given the fact that she lives here in the Washington, DC area and we spent weeks covering the Copenhagen climate conference (not to mention all the preparatory conferences in Madrid and Bonn). Nonetheless, I was pretty darn surprised when she agreed.

Turns out, she'd handled something like two dozen phone interviews about her new UN appointment, but we were her very first television interview. And she handled herself beautifully...once she switched suit coats with her personal assistant.

Christiana really has her hands full taking over for Yvo de Boer, who resigned after four years amid a cloud of pessimism. Still, I have a strong feeling that she's prepared for the adversity ahead. Both her father and brother are former Presidents of Costa Rica.

Bueno sustantivo. Good genes.

The Fire Below

"Volcano Erupts, Iceland Evacuates Hundreds"

That oft-repeated headline still strikes me as odd. I mean, you'd assume something as dangerous as flowing lava would send tens of thousands fleeing. Not, apparently, in a country of 300,000 people.

If you followed my Clean Skies News series of stories on Iceland's unique means of converting its natural resources into clean energy, you may have inferred that I did indeed fall in love with the country. Well, not quite, but I will confess to a very strong case of Like.

With that in mind, I've been especially fascinated by the recent spate of volcanic activity in Iceland. In fact, today marked the second time in a month the Eyjafjallajokull glacier has erupted. And, for the second time in a month, hundreds of nearby Icelanders left the scene.

My point? Two, actually.

1) The same geothermal blessings that provide Iceland with about 25% of its electricity and most of its heat can also be seen as a curse, to some degree. But, just as they turned to rotted shark meat for sustenance during Arctic winters, Icelanders are remarkably resilient.

2) Iceland features some of the most talented photojournalists I know. The picture above comes courtesy of my friend Ingi Ingason. At the time he was circling the eruption in a Cessna (flown by his father-in-law). More proof of my claim? This is stunning video from Profilm, the Icelandic production team we used for my shoots there back in the Fall.

Praise from the Power Sector

At what price Power?

Current legislative climate proposals mean power sector costs will perhaps rise significantly, technology could possibly be rendered obsolete (or at least excessively expensive), and essentially what the companies call Business As Usual would change forever.

So, naturally, power providers are supporting the idea. Or at least NRG Energy is, a company deep into Natural Gas, Nuclear, and Coal electricity generation.

I talked with Steve Corneli, NRG's Senior VP of Market and Climate Policy, about the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate bill. The proposal would, at its essence, put a price on carbon. And the first to pay that price, beginning in 2012, would be utilities and power sector players.

Fair? Well, according to Steve the idea of hitting up the power sector first "makes sense." Here's his take on the bill, from our interview at CleanSkies.com.

Bottom line here? The KGL bill is still very much in flux, but what the power sector thinks/says/does about the proposal will influence Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman going forward.

And "forward" could mean Friday, the final day before Spring Break here on Capitol Hill.

Party on, Lindsey.

An Inside Outline

So we now have an draft outline of a draft bill that has yet to be dropped. And drip-drip-drip goes the Senate's legislative process.

In a closed-door session Wednesday, Senators Graham, Kerry, and Lieberman (from left) shared their rough outline for a climate bill with industry leaders. "Industry" meaning the big guns who would be most affected by a cap on carbon emissions. Here's our coverage from this morning's edition of The Energy Report.

I think CAP's Joe Romm lays out the details pretty well (by way of CQ), given that The Details are very much subject to change. Nonetheless, this is a well-nuanced start of sorts:

• An economy-wide cap on carbon emissions that would begin in 2012, with a target of reducing carbon pollution 17 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

• Separate caps on carbon emissions by the electric utilities and manufacturing sectors, which would have to buy permits to pollute from the federal government.

• A combination for the regulated sectors of a “cap and trade” model, under which polluters could trade pollution permits on an open market, and a “cap and dividend” model, which would return revenue from the sale of permits directly to consumers.

• Sections or titles devoted to oil refining, farming, coal, clean energy innovation, and increasing production of nuclear energy and oil and natural gas drilling.

Virtually the first question that comes to mind is, How long will this version be relevant? John Kerry says the next step, a draft bill following reaction from the aforementioned Industry, could be out as soon as the end of next week.

Lindsey Graham's take? The Health Care morass could endanger Senate legislaiton for the rest of the year.