Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: A Service-Learning Project

Transcription

1 Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: A Service-Learning Project ENVS 0211 May 11, 2006 Emma Sando Spencer Cox Jimmy Ades Hannah Panci

2 2 Introduction This semester, our Conservation and Environmental Policy class has looked at the development of environmental policy in the United States, with a focus on the New England area. We have followed the evolution of environmentalism, from its roots in the dialectic relations between natural and human communities on the frontier to the more comprehensive ideology that surfaced in the 60s and 70s to come to the forefront of American politics. As we have studied the dynamism Coglianese first noted of the relations between social movements, laws, and outcomes, we have seen the role that social capital plays in these relationships. In both tracking the history of environmentalism and in our analysis of more current policies, what has become clear is the powerful and vital role that grassroots organizations have played in the realization of a green state. Beginning with Garrett Hardin s The Tragedy of the Commons, we saw a far more personal and individual dimension of environmentalism. The notion that a society is made up of individuals, whose individual actions profoundly affect the whole, is vital to understanding the importance of grassroots organization. Our readings in Judd set this notion of individual responsibility and power within the context of New England environmentalism, and as we learned about social capital and the power of human connection, we began to understand how our individual actions can make a real difference. But we have also learned in our recent readings that in some cases, the groundswell effect is not necessary to implement profound and sweeping changes to environmental legislation. As we have seen in Rade s Statehouse and Greenhouse, change is sometimes effected not by a popular movement, but by individuals operating at the bureaucratic level. It is this type of environmentalism that pertains to the program we were working with, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which has been agreed upon by a number of states without a public clamor for, or even awareness of, its implementation. But while public opinion may not have factored in on the decision to implement the initiative, it becomes crucial when we look to the future of RGGI. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to precipitate a national program, and this can only be achieved with the support of the general public. A strong and clear voice of public approval will be necessary to force noncompliant states to accept the initiative and to commit the national government to the program.

3 3 As we began to work with RGGI, we had all the notions of grassroots organization and the importance of the groundswell effect in our minds. Our involvement with the initiative allowed us to put our learning into practice, to take these somewhat vague concepts and apply them to a real scenario to effect change. Rick Weston, our service learning partner, has been heavily involved in RGGI through his work at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). He suggested we work with offsets and communications, and we followed his advice as we felt they were the areas that we as students could help with the most. We wanted to inform ourselves about offsets and to perhaps help RGGI decide which offsets were most viable in Vermont, so we researched the six possible offset opportunities outlined in the initiative. For the communication part of the project, we made an informational pamphlet and a video. The idea behind these was to inform the public about RGGI, so as to begin to build the base of public support needed to realize a nationwide initiative, while framing the issue in a way to which the general public could easily relate. Before the public can get on board with RGGI, it needs to know about RGGI and understand why it is important to them. An informed and thoughtful public will do a better job of conveying their desires to politicians, who are ultimately the translators of these desires into legislation. The more informed and lucid the public, the better the result. Over the course of this class, we have looked at environmentalism from a number of perspectives and in a number of contexts, whether it be grassroots activism, the politics of the federal government, or individual activity at the bureaucratic level. But the essence of environmentalism remains the same: behind environmental changes are human beings struggling to realize their own vision of how they think the world should be. Through this class and through our work with RGGI, we have learned that environmentalism at its best should be a human process. We have to be able to see each other s humanity to fully appreciate and respect each other s passions and goals, and to open up the dialogue necessary to effect change. Methodology and Results The first of our products, an informational pamphlet, is a compilation of our combined working knowledge of RGGI (Appendix A). Rick Weston introduced us to RGGI and gave us an in-depth background to the program. From here, we gathered most of our information from the

4 4 RGGI website and its wealth of documents and data. Jared Snyder, Assistant Attorney General at the Environmental Protection Bureau, NY Attorney General's Office, offered us his insights and perspectives on RGGI in the context of his work. Two of us also had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call among members of both RGGI and the Regulatory Assistance Project in which the technicalities of offsets were being discussed. Because not many citizens know about RGGI, our goal is to make RGGI easily understandable and to keep local citizens informed of climate legislation. All the information gathered is presented in a succinct informational brochure for distribution to the public. The second of our products, the offset research component, is an attempt to assist RGGI in determining opportunities for offset implementation within Vermont. Offsets were an item of compromise when original negotiations of RGGI took place, and offsets conducted outside of the RGGI region can be less productive when the goal is to reduce emissions inside the model region. Our research therefore attempted to provide an opportunity for offsets to be a more integral part of the program and to make them more localized and efficient. For this product, the Public Review Model of RGGI was used as a guide, and online research was done to find specific opportunities for each of the six areas of offsets outlined in RGGI literature in Vermont. The report focuses on the offset project with the most potential in Vermont methane reductions through anaerobic digesters. This research is compiled into a formal report and will be presented to RGGI staff to further their research in this area. The last of our projects, a video in which we interview Bill McKibben, Jon Isham, and Rick Weston, will also serve as an informational tool. Questions were brainstormed for each of the interviews (Appendix B), according to the person s level of expertise on RGGI, in order to gain a perspective both on how much people know about the program and how specific components of the program work. The video, a ten-minute production featuring our three interviewees and scenic Vermont, will be shared with Rick Weston upon completion. Recommendations Each aspect of our project is targeted at a specific audience and designed to communicate the information in the simplest and easiest-to-understand form. First off, the pamphlet should be dispersed to areas where it will have maximum exposure to a combination of groups. One group

5 5 we would particularly like to target is the common adult Vermonter. Placement of the pamphlet in town halls, tourist centers, and even local schools around Middlebury and surrounding towns would provide enough general access to the public to help spread awareness of the RGGI program. Distribution to Vermont colleges would help to raise awareness on other college campuses and contribute to the continually expanding student movement. Secondly, we hope the pamphlet could be distributed to government offices. Here, the pamphlets will make an impact with those who are curious of how the Vermont state government is approaching global warming issues. We recommend that RGGI continue to raise awareness of the program in as many forms as possible in an attempt to gain support and force additional states to join. The second aspect of our project is the video. The video has the potential to be a powerful tool of communication as long as it is distributed to the right audience. One way of achieving this is to air our program, in conjunction with other videos produced in this class, on public access television. The video can also be effective if placed in a classroom environment. This classroom can range from elementary to high school level classes. Another possible video application could utilize the internet to broadcast the video to audiences curious about RGGI in Vermont. We recommend that RGGI approve our video for placement on the RGGI website in order to provide another educational tool. Finally, the last aspect of our project includes the offset report. The offset report includes a broad introduction to the topic in addition to a more detailed section on one of the five projects outlined in the RGGI offset listing: anaerobic digesters in Vermont. Hopefully, the report will be utilized by the Vermont Regulatory Assistance Project as a tool in analyzing offsets and their implementation into RGGI. The report is basic, however, it should help steer RGGI towards supporting anaerobic digesters through their offset program. We recommend that RGGI do further research on the five additional projects to develop a more detailed report on the high potential for offset implementation in Vermont. We think that the offset component of RGGI will be most effective if offsets are conducted inside the RGGI region, and recommend that RGGI focus its efforts on local offset projects in order to further enhance local economies.

6 6 Conclusion We hope to affect the values of the American people that were not affected in the original decision-making process of RGGI. We want to bring RGGI to the community because without education and public support a social movement cannot last. Offsets are an important aspect of RGGI that will appeal to different utility companies; as previously discussed, we hope to bring offsets to the individual, to the farms and forests of Vermont. With the public s knowledge of offsets there is greater chance that they will be implemented. Offsets can be seen as merely a short-term solution to a larger problem, as seen in this quote by Dutzik and Sargent, two cap and trade systems experts: allowing usage of offsets in order to comply with a regional power-sector emissions cap could undermine otherwise significant gains in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power generating facilities. However, we believe that given our present circumstances and to ease electric companies into RGGI, it is in our best interest to explore different ways in which carbon dioxide emissions can be offset. We also explored another branch a more grounded solution that would provide protection against the erosion of time, something that would ignite the masses and churn the values of America into sustainable and renewable energy: we turned to education. With our pamphlet, we hope that RGGI will employ education to the public as a weapon against corporations apathetic to the environment and to the greater good of the community. We also hope our movie creeps into the crevices of the disinterested public and presents the possibilities for the future. With interviews of community members from all walks of life, we hope it will appeal to and raise awareness in a broad base of Vermonters. We also note that the work done in this semester is far from finished we have only embarked on the beginning of our journey to discover and affect the values of the American people. It is a foundation that will be built on throughout our lives it is a lifelong project that, although ungraded, realizes the importance we play in the interconnectedness of the commons and the greater whole.

7 7 References/Resources Introduction Coglianese, Cary. Social Movements, Law, and Society: The Institutionalization of the Environmental Movement. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 150 (2001): Hardin, Garrett. The Tragedy of the Commons. Science 162 (1968): Judd, Richard. Common Lands, Common People: The Origins of Conservation in Northern New England. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Rabe, Barry. Statehouse and Greenhouse. The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy. Brookings Institution Press, Pamphlet: Information Environmental Protection Agency. 10 May Apr < National Wildlife Federation. Global Warming and Vermont. 15 Sep Apr < Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Greenhouse Gases in Vermont. 20 Apr < Pamphlet: Pictures Arcadia Lodge. Minnesota Family Resorts for MN Vacations at Arcadia Lodge May < Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative May < Vermont Vacations. Vermont Fall Foliage Central May < vermont.com/seasons/fall.asp>. WP Clipart. Clipart Geography. 8 May May < Video Isham, Jon. Personal interview. 29 Apr McKibben. Bill. Personal interview. 25 Apr Weston, Rick. Personal interview. 4 May 2006.

8 Appendix A: RGGI Brochure

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10 Appendix B: Interview Questions 1. Is global warming a crisis? 2. What makes (or will make) RGGI effective? 3. How will RGGI affect VT and its energy profile? 4. Does RGGI have the potential to become a national program? 5. What impact will RGGI have on carbon emissions globally? 6. Where do you see us 50 years from now, and how do we get there as a community? 7. How will RGGI work as a launching pad for other renewable energy programs? 8. Will RGGI have the desired effect? For Jon Isham: As an economist, how do you see RGGI effecting VT's economy?