Coming Together

The Virginia transportation secretary said a few days ago that the Old Dominion would commit $500 million over the next ten years to Metro, the Washington region’s subway system. The decision cleared the way for the Metro system to place an order for new equipment that is essential to the safe and efficient running of the Metro, the second largest subway network in the U.S. based on ridership. Metro also will increase fares this week, a signal that not all is well with the system, and a move that might push more riders into their cars.

At about the same time that the VA legislature -- the same legislature that has been starving Northern Virginia road and mass transit projects for years -- came to its Metro decision I was having a conversation with a person who I think is pretty knowledgeable about mass transit as it relates to housing.

We were talking about the meaning behind comments made by Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD), Shaun Donovan. Secretary Donovan noted that his agency, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Energy Department (Energy) planned to work together in the months ahead in order to jump start the the development of more livable and greener communities.

Up to now, the three agencies worked separately and their work often didn't enable the development of greener communities. For example, few people would argue that America’s transportation policy has been automobile focused. Spending on highways in fiscal 2009 was about $40 billion while spending on transit (buses, trains) was about $10 billion.

Virginia’s decision and the federal government’s push to work together can mean a lot for us. For one thing, Metro might one day become the commuter service that it should be, that is a service that reaches more of us, offering us more choices for how to get back and forth not only to work, but to leisure events, too.

If the federal government’s small plans to date succeed, then maybe its efforts will grow and provide the spark that’s needed to transform our suburban neighborhoods into more connected communities. In the process, all of us might drive a little less, burn a little less fossil fuels, walk a little more and burn a little more calories -- together a win for the environment and our nationally expanding waistlines.

So, Now What?

The other night President Obama put the full force of his office into play and told all of us that he was royally ticked off with BP. The next day, BP found some spare change and pledged to put the $20 billion that it found into a fund that would pay the costs of the clean-up. Good thing, no doubt.

But with thousands of barrels of oil each day still spilling into the Gulf one mile beneath the surface, there is more at stake than the economic effect of this unprecedented disaster. So, now what?

Political observers are wondering if the disaster will energize the push to move more aggressively toward alternative energy sources that has been stalled on Capitol Hill. I think that if the one and only positive thing that comes from this debacle is that Congress begins to act like it wants to be a steward for the future of America and its citizens and not just a consumer of political chits and develop a real energy policy then that's great.

Because alternative energy needs some policy guidance. Business can't operate in a dark room, not knowing what whim it will bump into next. Already wind energy is struggling in this confusion, according to an article in Renewable Energy World.

But the wind sector may have gotten a shot in the arm. Virginia has reasonable potential to generate power through wind resources, according to analysis done by the Department of Energy. Of course there are problems with wind energy production. Some of the best locations in the state also are some of the most beautiful such as the Virginia Beach area and our mountain locations.

That said, Virginia did recently sign on to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) along with nine other east coast states to form the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium. You go, Gov. McDonnell; now you're making sense.

But as anyone who has ever had the misfortune to be party to a MOU, you know that it makes for good PR, but not necessarily great working partnership that are truly effective. What has to happen now is residents of Virginia who want our state to lead or to at least walk real closely behind a leader must make their voices heard in Richmond and in their county governments. There's going to be stiff opposition to the placing of windmills in just about anywhere, let alone pristine places in the Commonwealth.

Maybe they don't have to be sited in our most beautiful places; maybe wind energy can be generated with less intrusion into our wild spaces. I don't know. But just blindly blocking construction through environmental NIMBYism is not going to help us get cleaner energy.

When a Fish is like a Canary

Most of us have heard the story of the canary in the coal mine. It goes something like this: before miners had the technology in place today to detect poisonous air as they dug deeper and deeper into the earth, miners carried a canary down with them. The thinking was that the canary would keel over before the men, an indication that the air was too poisonous to breathe. My guess is that the miners paid pretty close attention to the canary before it dropped dead.

Are we paying attention to the canaries in our environment?

Recently the Potomac River Conservancy released a report on the increasing rate of intersex among fish found in the Potomac and its various tributaries. The report prompted Virginia Representative Jim Moran to sponsor legislation aimed at reducing the presence of chemicals suspected of causing intersex in fish from entering our drinking water. As chairman of an important Congressional committee, Rep. Moran hopes to direct as much as $30 million to fixing this problem.

While fishers can certainly pull up a bunch of fish without this problem, the fact that the presence of intersex fish in what are supposed to be clean waters is increasing should worry all of us.

A lot of the blame can be placed right back at our own doorstep, or more accurately, our medicine cabinets. Improperly disposing of old medicine, vitamins and even in personal care products like shampoo.

More urgently, the supply of these chemicals also is coming from farm run-off resulting from pesticide use, or home lawn care pesticides. Importantly, the problem of household toxins entering our water is not confined to the Potomac and the Chesapeake watershed. An article posted to the National Geographic Society's blog notes that the problem is widespread throughout the U.S.

So the fish are our freshwater canaries. Paying attention to them will probably improve their health and lives and maybe our health and lives, too.

Definitely Not Overrated

A lot of things in this world are over-hyped, overblown and overrated. Everything from the latest America Idol to whoever is gracing the cover of the supermarket slick mags, we're surrounded by the overrated. But when it comes to Virginia, it's definitely not overrated.

According to a study by Statemaster.com, Virginia ranks five for Best States to Live. The only states ahead of it are either square fly-over states (Wyoming) or too cold for most of us (Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont).

Although I'm a transplant from what should be the number one state -- New York -- I have to admit that I've grown to appreciate Virginia for all that it has to offer, and for all that we should care about.

Virginia has one of America's great rivers in the Potomac, and some not too shabby river cousins in the James, Rappahannock and Shenandoah. Not too bad at all.

Virginia has some of the best national parks in the U.S. While almost by definition a national park is spectacular, Virginia has its fair share of great NPs, starting with the Shenandoah, home to mountains, waterfalls, lakes and more than 100 miles of the iconic Appalachian Trail.

Virginia has some of the best state colleges and universities in the U.S, and with them, several of the truly gorgeous green campuses. Ranked #5 by Forbes, the University of Virginia is one of Thomas Jefferson's greatest legacies. But by no means is UVA the only jewel in Virginia's state university crown. Virginia Tech, William and Mary and a number of other public universities rank high on the total value lists published by the major college ranking bodies.

Higher education, national parks, river systems, all of these things pale against the overall historical value of Virginia. Home to America's first permanent European settlement, Virginia can properly be called the genesis of America. Although its history is marred by slavery and some would claim amnesia or plain insensitivity when it comes to that horrible American past, Massachusetts and the Pilgrims just can't hold a candle to Virginia.

A Green Summer Vacation

The unofficial start of summer begins with the coming of Memorial Day weekend less than one week away. Although most of us will get three days to frolic and have the kind of fun that is only a dim memory after a brutal winter, we shouldn't forget why we have Memorial Day at all. With tens of thousands of servicemen and women in hostile territory, it's important that while we pack up the cooler, fire up the grill and set out on the open road, that we remember Memorial Day exists because people have died to protect our country and its core values.

OK, now for the fun stuff. There is a way to kick off summer vacation in an environmentally friendly way and add a little green to the celebration of the Red, White and Blue.

Six Tips For a Green Summer Vacation

1. Drive to your vacation. There's nothing like flying through the clouds to kick off a vacation. But if you're concerned about the environment, taking a plane is, mile-for-mile, more damaging to the environment. Virginia is practically at the center of the eastern seaboard and within a moderate day's drive to some spectacular vacation sites along the Atlantic coast like Myrtle Beach and the Outer Banks to the south, or New York City, the Catskills and Boston to the north. Heading west, after a half dozen hours or so of "are we there yet" from the kids, a family can enjoy Chicago, Memphis and the spectacular Smoky Mountains.

2. Don't use plastic bottles. While a 24-pack of water can be purchased for about six bucks from the local grocery store, using stainless steel bottles to chug water is better for the environment, albeit more pricey. And, they can be used the rest of the summer and even longer, making their cost compare favorably in the long run.

3. Run your car's air conditioner when on the highway. As crazy as it sounds since running the air burns more gas -- and who wants to burn more gas -- it's actually more efficient to drive highways with the windows up and the air on. More efficient driving tips can be found at Edmunds.com.

4. Pick a green hotel. Most of us have seen those silly little cards in the hotel asking us to defer having our sheets changed every day as a way to save on water and on energy used in the washing process. I can go with the same sheets for two days, but most people would rather not while on vacation. That's OK, because the real measure of an eco-hotel is its overall energy footprint. This site lists hotels that claim to be green, and why they think that they are. One sure way to green your hotel stay is to select a hotel near where you'll spend most of your time, enabling you to leave your car parked and to take public transportation. I'll never forget the first time my daughter rode the Disney World bus -- she had never been on a bus before and she was as wide-eyed as you could imagine.

5. Eat Local. OK, you're on vacation and you want to have great food -- even if your children would be content with fast food. Great food is local food. It's fresher and didn't cost the environment as much to get to your plate. Most restaurants that serve locally grown or organic food toot the fact on their websites. Use the hotel internet or your own device to check out the restaurants. This website can help. You'll enjoy the food more and have some bragging rights when you get back home.

6. Finally, prepare your home for vacation. Unplug all of the vampire electronic devices before you leave. Research shows that as much as five percent of the energy used in a home is drawn and wasted by these vampire devices, such as your TV, desktop computer and more. Unplugging these things will lower your month's electric bill while you're away. If you just can't imagine returning to a hot house when you get back from vacation -- get over it. Turn the AC off at home; you don't need to keep the walls cool.

Nuclear? I don't think so

With global warming pretty much an accepted fact, energy policymakers on both sides of the political spectrum are looking for non-carbon alternatives to creating electricity. And while increasing the use of nuclear energy should be a last resort for anyone who cares about the environment because of the risks associated with nuclear waste disposal, whether underground in New Mexico or anywhere else for that matter but the moon, nuclear is gaining ground.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Dominion Virginia Power (the company lighting my home) said that it had chosen a nuclear generator manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (yep, related to the car company). If completed, the reactor would be third nuclear reactor owned and operated by Dominion in Virginia. In all, nuclear energy accounted for 35 percent of the power generated in the state in 2007. To be fair, even if Dominion did move ahead with the plant, it wouldn't come online for at least five years.

Nevertheless, currently when combined with coal at 45 percent, four-fifths of the state's electricity is generated by either the dirtiest fuel known to man, or possibly the most dangerous. Forget explosions and meltdowns. There is no doubt that the waste from nuclear reactors remains poisonous for, oh... thousands of years!

Nuclear is getting a boost these days because it basically doesn't emit green house gases, and won't contribute to global warming. In fact, nuclear has such great benefits that an exhaustive list can be found right on the Nuclear Energy Institutes's website. The site is so nice, with its crystal clear blue sky background, fluffy clouds and pristine, pine encircled lakes.

No photos of Chernobyl or Three Mile Island on this site.

But before everyone thinks that I believe that nuclear is all bad, I don't. It has a place in our energy policy. My issue is the rapid pace of its ascendancy on the list of the non-carbon alternatives to energy production. According to one report, President Obama has more than $50 billion of federal money budgeted to support the construction of new nuclear power plants. I'm sure that some of that is on the radar of Dominion Power.

Fewer than 20 percent of total federal energy subsidies go to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

But Virginia is forging ahead in trying to increase the deployment of renewable energy, especially wind. Next month, the Virginia Wind Energy Collaborative is holding a two-day conference down at James Madison University. Registration is affordable at twenty bucks for one day, and thirty dollars for the two day event. People interested in knowing what's been going on inside Virginia with respect to wind power generation will hear an earful.

Meanwhile, if you care about more balanced energy policy and taxpayer subsidy going to projects that won't make you glow in the dark if they mess up, then sign one of the zillion petitions online and get our Congress and President to make better choices.

Today's The Day

Someone said a long time ago that, "today is the first day of the rest of your life." For those of us who have been hoping for movement in Congress on climate change, we're in the midst of realizing the true meaning of that aphorism.

Senator's Kerry and Lieberman introduced their bill this week and voices on the left and right found it inadequate. The loud voices over at Fox called the bill a global power grab, while at least one the equally strident advocate voice on the other side is angry that the bill doesn't go far enough.

Today's the day.

We're here and consuming energy to support a lifestyle that we like, and around the world billions-- yes, billions -- of other people have the hope and are praying that they can have the life that we have here in the U.S. But those aspirations come with costs, and really no matter how much the climate skeptics want us to hop on their bandwagon, glaciers that have advanced and receded across our global landscape for a long time, are now retreating and not recharging at rates enough to sustain them because where the glaciers are, and where the rest of us are, is here on Earth and it's getting warmer.

Today's the day.

The Kerry-Lieberman (or is it Lieberman-Kerry?) bill tries to make a difference, but like most things out of Washington, the difference is on the margins when what we need is bold action. I have the blessed fortune to telecommute for work a couple of days each week. Actually, if not for out-dated ideas about personnel management, I don't have to be in the office much at all. All of us need to think about climate change and associated energy efficiency as essential, and how our usual way of thinking needs to change for our own greater good.

The green jobs pablum that comes out of Washington and state capitals also needs to be bolder. The so-called cash-for-caulkers program will make homes more efficient and put some people to work, but the long-term effect of it will be small. A "GI-Bill", Marshall Plan, full-court press or some other catch phrase is needed to make a real difference here.

Dealing with climate change by making better energy source choices (wind and solar, and having the guts to build the transmission delivery capacity from generating location to end user) today and realizing that the choices are investments in the future and not just current accounting entries for today, is critical.

Carefully debating the Lieberman-Kerry bill -- without the sound-byte hyperbole, or a jaundiced eye on the next election -- also is necessary. The bill's far from perfect, but today it's a place to start.

Today's the day.

(Photo Credit: First photo: Reardon, USGS, 2001; Second Photo, Stebinger, Glacier National Park Archives, 1914