I can’t believe it’s been nearly four years since we’ve held a
discussion on Water Ways about how commodities markets may affect
the price of gasoline at the pump.
I guess I’ve been watching and waiting for something to happen.
Well, a couple weeks ago, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell began
stirring the pot again.
Here’s what she said during a March 29 hearing of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee:
“I definitely believe that we should get these asset class
investors out of this market. Saying that we are going to allow a
bunch of investors to treat the commodities market like they want
to treat the rest of Wall Street from a securities and investment
perspective I think is the wrong idea for commodities, something
particularly as vital as gasoline.”
While the scientific and policy debate rages on about methods of
extracting natural gas from underground shale deposits, I’ve
experienced a few amusing moments regarding this topic of hydraulic
fracturing — “fracking.”
Comedian Stephen Colbert is a huge supporter of fracking, as you
can see in the video at right.
“My only worry,” he says, “is that we will become too dependent
on ourselves and end up invading Pennsylvania. That place is a
quagmire full of religious extremists (photo of two Amish men) and
fanatics (photo of Philadelphia Phillies mascot Phillie
Phanatic).
Comedian Jon Stewart conducts a semi-serious conversation about
natural gas development with T. Boone Pickens, the business
financier who is heavily invested in natural gas resources. Stewart
never seems to get around to asking about industry changes the past
few years or about the potential environmental consequences of
fracking.
A more balanced examination of the issue was written by Steven
Mufson of The Washington Post, carried a couple days ago on the
Seattle Times website. I’m offering that link for information,
not amusement.
Finally, Ann McElhinney, an Irish filmmaker, believes that
fracking is an important element in this nation’s effort to develop
new energy supplies. (Check out this YouTube video.)
She argues that the environmental risks have been greatly overblown
and is planning to make a film about the issue. It will be called
“FrackNation,”
a counterpoint to Josh Fox’s “Gasland.” I think you’ll
find her talk amusing, though it may stir up some other emotions as
well.
The gravitational pull of the moon offers an enormous potential
to provide electrical power, since ocean tides move massive amounts
of water on a regular schedule.
Harnessing ocean energy has the potential of providing a steady,
predictable power supply. And, while wind and solar power are still
favored on a cost basis, tidal power has the benefit of being
always on, undiminished by clouds or lack of wind. That alone is
considered a major benefit when it comes to operating the regional
power grid.
This week’s conference on ocean energy in Bremerton turned out
to be interesting, not only for the types of technology discussed
but also for its variety of viewpoints — including fishermen who
want to make sure tidal turbines don’t hurt their operations. Check
out the story I wrote for
Thursday’s Kitsap Sun.
In the Puget Sound region, the Snohomish County Public Utility
District is studying the potential environmental effects of placing
a tidal turbine in Admiralty Inlet between Port Townsend and
Whidbey Island. A small pilot project is all that is planned at
this time.
At the Bremerton conference, Jim Thomson of the University of
Washington described some of the ongoing studies, from measurements
of currents passing through Admiralty Inlet to the possible effects
of noise on sealife. So far, concerns appear to be manageable. I
reported some of Thomson’s comments in my story.
Another news report on the project itself was written this past
summer by Charlie Bermant of the
Peninsula Daily News. Charlie reported that the latest schedule
calls for installing the turbines in 2013.
The top video on this page depicts a commercial turbine
developed by OpenHydro, the company working with the PUD on the
Admiralty Inlet site. The second video, though made in 2008, offers
a nice perspective of the overall effort by SnoPUD General Manager
Steve Klein.
Worldwide, the quest for energy is not bypassing the
gravitational power of the moon. John Daly of
Oilprice.com reported last week that Rolls Royce, which has
become a formidable player in the energy business, has developed a
tidal turbine that could make inroads into Great Brittain’s
electrical needs — although Daly failed to describe the potential
cost obstacles.
Needless to say, this subject is worth following, and sponsors
of the Bremerton event — including organizer Cleantech West Sound —
are already discussing new issues that could be discussed at a
repeat conference next year.
Jay Manning, who resigned in June as Gov. Chris Gregoire’s chief
of staff, says he is ready to charge back into work as a private
lawyer, after spending the summer hiking and mountain biking
throughout the Northwest.
Jay
Manning
Manning, 53, a native of Manchester in Kitsap County, returned
today to his old law firm, an environmental practice that now bears
the name Cascadia Law Group. One thing to know about Jay is that
environmental issues have always been a central part of his
life.
Jay took some time to talk with me today about his reasons for
leaving state government and his hopes for the future.
“I had sort of run out of gas,” he confessed. “Although others
disagreed, I thought I was not performing as well as I should be,
such as my ability to solve problems.”
He said he was beginning to worry about his financial condition,
with a son in college and retirement staring him in the face. It
was a factor he mentioned in a going-away e-mail to his staff.
“There was nothing dire there,” he told me, “but it was a
concern.”
Although it may be a cliché, it seems to me that Jay was also
thinking a great deal about his family life. His wife, a teacher,
had been doing double-duty: keeping the home fires burning while
going to work every day. During Jay’s time in state government, his
family time was more limited.
“It was time to put myself back as an active member of the
family, and it has been so much fun to do that,” he said. “Since
July 15, I have really played outside and hung out with family and
friends. I have my energy level back.”
As he traveled about the Northwest, Jay said he has come to
appreciate the splendor of this region even more. He now lives in
Olympia.
Meanwhile, Manning has considered various jobs, including
prospects at environmental law firms. He settled on Cascadia Law
Group, which he believes takes a rare approach to environmental
disputes.
“Unlike most firms, this one does not let themselves get
pigeonholed. In one case, they may be representing regulated
business. In another case, it can be an Indian tribe, and in
another case an environmental group. I like that they represent
different viewpoints.”
Manning’s career path has helped him become a skillful
negotiator with an ability to see various sides of a problem. Most
issues are not black-and-white, he said. People on all sides have
viewpoints that deserve respect.
After graduating from the University of Oregon Law School in
1983, Manning joined the Washington State Attorney General’s
Office, where he and seven other lawyers represented the Department
of Ecology.
When Chris Gregoire became Ecology director in 1987, Manning
became chief negotiator during three years of tough talks with the
federal government over Hanford cleanup. For a time, he went into
private law practice and served on the board of the Washington
Environmental Council.
When Gregoire became governor, she quickly named Manning to head
up the Department of Ecology, where he served for more than four
years before she asked him to become her chief of staff in October
2009.
Manning was grateful. “But for me, it sucked the energy out, in
a way the Ecology job didn’t,” he said. “I knew the chief of staff
job was hard, but until you’re sitting in that chair, you don’t
know how you’ll react to it.”
Manning says his days as a trial lawyer are probably over. He
anticipates working on management and public-policy issues, such as
controversies over water resources in Eastern Washington. He said
he would not be surprised to find himself lobbying for legislation
at some point.
He also discusses how he might help environmental groups, either
professionally or as a volunteer.
“I’m excited to work on energy efficiency, restoration of Puget
Sound and some really exciting water projects on the east side of
the state,” he said.
As Ecology chief, Manning headed up the state’s Climate Action
Team, and I was surprised that he didn’t mention that specifically
as a concern.
“I am concerned,” he told me, “but I don’t talk about it as a
climate issue. It’s about making your home and business more
efficient. You make a more comfortable place to live and your
heating bill goes down. We talk energy efficiency, and climate is
smack dab in the middle of it.”
The need to reduce greenhouse gases is clear, he said, but the
term “climate change” divides people in ways that “energy
efficiency” does not.
I asked him if “energy efficiency” conveys the appropriate sense
of urgency about a problem that has our government tied in
knots.
“That’s a good point,” he said. “My background would tend to
push me toward a strong regulatory response. But I don’t think that
is doable now.”
Does he think he’ll ever venture back into politics?
“I would never say ‘never,’ but I am really going to focus on
being successful with this firm Cascadia. I saw up close what it
takes to be governor. It is hard, and sometimes it is completely
unreasonable. There is a big personal sacrifice to be made. Right
now my focus is on this new job.”
Cascadia Law Group’s website describes the practice this
way:
“Our clients come to us because we solve problems. We set out
first to understand each client’s objectives. We then apply our
knowledge of the law, persuasive skills, political acumen, and
creative thinking to attain those goals. We have successfully
helped our clients resolve many of our region’s most difficult
environmental issues.”
I’ve talked before about how Jay’s growing up in Kitsap County
shaped his concerns for the environment. Check out previous
comments on Waterways from
Oct. 5, 2009, and
Feb. 17, 2008. I wrote a profile about Manning for the
Kitsap Sun in February 2008.
Reports about the loss of life and devastation in Japan are
overwhelming — and yet most experts seem to consider Japan as the
best prepared for earthquakes among all countries in the world.
I’ve been covering Northwest earthquake science for more than 25
years. When I heard that the Japanese quake was around magnitude 9
and sending a tsunami across the ocean toward the U.S. West Coast,
I thought about an earthquake that occurred off the Washington
Coast more than 300 years ago.
That earthquake sent a wall of water across the ocean, washing
up on the shores of Japan. Because of that tsunami, researchers
have been able to calculate the time of that quake to about 9 p.m.
on Jan. 26, 1700.
I wrote a story for
Saturday’s Kitsap Sun making some general comparisons between
Friday’s earthquake in Japan and the last great Cascadia earthquake
of 1700.
In broad-brush terms, “the two earthquakes are very similar,”
John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network,
told me. “As a first guess, what might happen here is what happened
there.”
For Saturday’s piece, written for a general audience, I decided
to avoid some of the technical details about the two earthquakes,
so allow me to offer some additional information here:
It was 75 years ago this coming Thursday that Franklin D.
Roosevelt dedicated Hoover Dam, the tallest dam in the world at
that time.
In recognition of what has been viewed as an incredible
engineering feat on the mighty Colorado River, I have extracted
from the National Archives a 27-minute film that catches a bit of
the drama surrounding Hoover Dam all these decades. The film is
amusing while also educational. Setting aside today’s environmental
controversy, one can’t help but marvel at the accomplishment.
Here’s how the film begins:
“This is the story of Hoover Dam, one of America’s seven modern
civil-engineering wonders.
“Build a dam in the wilderness and the world will build a path
to it. For many centuries this was a lonely canyon, unseen and
untouched by man, scorched by a desert sun, scolded by an angry
river slashing its way to the mother sea.
“Now it lies peaceful and silent except for the gentle hum of a
hydroelectric power plant, the bubbling up of water as it leaves
mighty turbines, the cheerful sounds of America and the world on
the move to see this pioneer multipurpose reclamation project man
built in Black Canyon.”
I’ve been in a mild state of shock since I first heard about the
oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. I can’t begin to imagine
the devastation that will take place once this oil starts washing
ashore tonight in the fragile salt marshes along the Louisiana
Coast.
When I think about the prospect of a ship or oil tanker crashing
in Puget Sound, I consider the oiled birds that die, along with
affected seals and potentially killer whales. I think of the food
web being poisoned. As horrible as that would be, we are talking
about a finite amount of oil — because a ship or tanker can hold
only so much.
On the other hand, the best experts working in the Gulf of
Mexico can’t seem to stop the oil coming out of the seabed, 5,000
feet down. Now officials are saying the spill could be 200,000
gallons a day or more.
How long will the spill continue? That depends on the success of
several options for shut-off, from valves that aren’t working right
now to a domelike device to trap the oil, to a new shaft drilled
down to intercept the old one. It could take months to shut off the
oil.
Yesterday,
Times-Picayune reporter Bob Marshall wrote of the more than 400
species of animals — including dozens of threatened and endangered
species — that could be injured or killed by oil before this event
is over.
The area under threat produces the largest total seafood
landings in the lower 48 states, including 50 percent of the
nation’s wild shrimp crop, 35 percent of its blue claw crabs and 40
percent of its oysters.
Oil Spill Video: Reporters explain status
Marshall quoted Melanie Driscoll of Audubon, bird conservation
director for the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, who was clearly
worried: “This is a really important time for so many species in
this ecosystem, because they’ve just begun spawning and
nesting.”
Marshall along with reporter Chris Kirkham of the New Orleans
newspaper did a great job explaining the latest information on
video. Check out the video player, above right, in which they
interview each other.
As the spill continues and oil gets closer and closer to shore,
a sense of dread is coming over everyone who understands what oil
can do to birds and wildlife. This disaster could eclipse the
devastation of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound,
Alaska.
“It is of grave concern,” David Kennedy of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, told
The Associated Press. “I am frightened. This is a very, very
big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do
anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just
mind-boggling.”
Maybe it’s too soon to talk about politics, what with 11 people
dead and an environmental disaster looming, but I can’t escape the
fact that a month ago President Obama called for a renewal of
offshore oil drilling.
“By responsibly expanding conventional energy development and
exploration here at home we can strengthen our energy security,
create jobs, and help rebuild our economy. Our strategy calls for
developing new areas offshore, exploring frontier areas, and
protecting places that are too special to drill. By providing order
and certainty to offshore exploration and development and ensuring
we are drilling in the right ways and the right places, we are
opening a new chapter for balanced and responsible oil and gas
development here at home.”
Today, White House officials are saying the oil spill in the
Gulf could change their energy policy. According to a report from
Patricia Zengerle of Reuters,
this is what spokesman Robert Gibbs said about Obama’s views given
the Gulf disaster.
“Could that possibly change his viewpoint? Well, of course. I
think our focus right now is: one, the area, the spill; and two,
also to ultimately determine the cause of it and see the impact
that that ultimately may or may not have.”
And from Carol Browner, Obama’s policy adviser for energy and
climate:
“Obviously this will become, I think, part of the debate; that
goes without saying. But I don’t think it means that we can’t get
the kind of important energy legislation that we need.”
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), urged people to keep the spill in
perspective, according to a story by Greenwire reporter Mike
Soragham in the
New York Times:
“I hope it (the crisis) will not be used inappropriately. We
cannot stop energy production in this country because of this
incident. If we push exploration off our shores … but force other
people to produce it, they will be in regimes and places where
there aren’t these kinds of equipment, technology, laws and
rules.”
You don’t need to have a geyser in your backyard to benefit from
“geothermal” energy.
While superhot water from deep underground makes for a pretty
exciting story, it’s not the only way to go. Klamath Falls, Ore.,
is involved in a $1.6 million project to generate electricity from
what is considered “low temperature” geothermal water. Check out
the story in yesterday’s edition of the online magazine Government Technology.
Michael Mayda of Thermal
Systems in Silverdale describes a geothermal heat pump in a new
Bainbridge Island home.
Kitsap Sun photo
“The city, with its high-desert landscape, sits above natural
geothermal springs, which residents have used for 100 years to heat
their homes,” states the article by Russell Nichols. “Hot rocks and
geysers keep the sidewalks warm when the winter comes and pump heat
into buildings downtown.”
The article goes on to describe a low-temperature geothermal
power plant proposed for Klamath Falls that was pioneered at Chena
Hot Springs in Alaska. For a description of the Chena project,
involving United Technologies Corporation, see the For
Your Own Power Web site.
While geothermal electricity is exciting technology, what caught
my attention was a federal residential tax credit that will pay 30
percent of the cost of solar, wind, fuel cell … and, yes,
geothermal systems. I pursued geothermal heat pumps in a story I
wrote for
Sunday’s Kitsap Sun.
The unlimited tax credit makes it feasible to consider
geothermal heat pumps in many new home installations. Furthermore,
an additional $1,500 rebate from Puget Sound Energy opens the door
to consider them when replacing old heating systems, especially for
large homes.
In addition to my Sunday story, these resources may help you
understand the operations and benefits of geothermal heat
pumps: Continue reading →
Organizers of The Great Peninsula Future Festival are telling us
to come to for the fun and leave surprised about what we learn
about sustainable living and protecting the environment.
Ty Vennewitz of the New Old
Time Chautauqua juggles in a parade at last year’s Great Peninsula
Future Festival. Kitsap Sun photo
I attended last year’s event. The weather was ideal, and the
music was great. Speakers were knowledgeable, and information
booths covered every topic under the sun — including solar power.
There was food and clowns and parades and much more than I will
list here. You may want to read my story about this year’s festival
in
Sunday’s Kitsap Sun.
This year, the festival returns to Port Gamble, the historic
mill town north of the Hood Canal Bridge. The festival, on Saturday
and Sunday, appears to have a lineup at least as good as last
year’s.
Learning from the first event, organizers say the layout of this
year’s festival grounds will be better, and there will be more
chairs and tables with umbrellas to encourage small-group
discussions.
President Obama is being praised for his decision to pull
together all the ocean-related challenges this nation faces and for
plotting a unified course of action.
On Friday, the president issued a memorandum calling for a task
force to develop a national ocean policy along with a “framework”
for action and a set of objectives. See the
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies,
along with a news story by reporter Doug Palmer of
Reuters.
I was tempted to state cynically that actions speak louder than
words, so we should curb our enthusiasm about what can be done to
save the oceans. But then I talked to Bill Ruckelshaus, who
co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission, a national group dedicated to
this topic.
Ruckelshaus seems to be thrilled with this latest development,
following years of failed promises from the Bush
administration.
“This is quite a significant event, really,” Bill told me. “It
moves the oceans up on the presidential agenda, which means they
will get more attention from Congress and from agencies in the
administration. Presidencies are all about setting agendas, and
this means more attention will be paid to the recommendations we
made.”
I’ll tell you a little more about what my conversation with Mr.
Ruckelshaus, but first I’ll review the history.
Five years ago, similar praise was accorded to President Bush
after the U.S.
Commission on Ocean Policy — a presidentially appointed body —
released it’s comprehensive examination of the major problems
facing the oceans. The report included a list of potential
solutions.
Adm. James D. Watkins, a retired Navy officer who chaired the
commission, expressed enthusiasm for the reception he felt the
report was getting from the Bush administration.
“President Bush’s response to the Commission’s Report and his
signing of Executive Order establishing a Secretarial-level
Committee on Ocean Policy … sets into motion the important process
of developing and implementing a new national ocean policy,”
Watkins declared.
Despite the positive reaction, I don’t believe a whole lot came
about. (Review the last three “report
cards.”) A separate report written by the Pew Oceans
Commission received even less attention.
After the two commissions dissolved, some members — including
Ruckelshaus — moved into a new organization called the Joint Ocean Commission
Initiative, a nongovernmental group that maintained pressure
for action through annual “report cards” relating the progress, or
lack thereof, on ocean issues.
And so now we come to today, five months into the new
administration, which seems to be trying to do everything at once.
Can there really be much energy left for a discussion about the
oceans?
Bill Ruckelshaus is undaunted. “I think holding back and doing
things one at a time just doesn’t work,” he said. “You have to act
while the energy is there.”
Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency under President Nixon, now chairs the Leadership
Council of the Puget Sound Partnership, where he is heading the
effort to reverse the degradation of our inland waterways.
President Bush created the U.S. Commission on Oceans, which
probably seemed like a good idea at the time. But pulling all the
environmental agencies together and getting Congress to focus on
budgets, regulations and international treaties just never came to
pass.
