American Energy Innovation: The Federal Policy Landscape

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This Zoom Webinar was held on Dec. 14, 2020, noon-1 pm

Here is a recording of the session.

Decarbonizing the US economy will require substantial investment in research, development, and deployment of technologies that have not yet entered the marketplace at large scale. There is bipartisan support for federal policy to support such clean energy innovation—particularly under the auspices of the American Energy Innovation Act, a multi-billion-dollar piece of legislation currently under consideration in the US Senate. (A companion bill, the Clean Energy and Jobs Innovation Act, was passed by the US House of Representatives in September 2020.)

Join Resources for the Future (RFF) at this important moment for innovation policy as they host a conversation, “American Energy Innovation: The Federal Policy Landscape.” Their distinguished set of panelists—including one of the lead architects of the American Energy Innovation Act—will discuss what parts of the innovation ecosystem policy can most readily support; how past innovation policies in the United States have fared, both in the energy sector and elsewhere; how the private sector takes signals from policies; and how the discussion around energy innovation policy has unfolded on Capitol Hill over the past year.

Speakers

  • Colin Cunliff, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  • Spencer Nelson, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Richard G. Newell, Resources for the Future
  • Kristin Hayes, Resources for the Future (moderator)

Additional speakers to be announced.

About the Advanced Energy Technologies Project

RFF’s Advanced Energy Technologies Project uses new research to incorporate a number of these advanced technologies into our E4ST power sector model, which offers a detailed representation of the grid and is widely used in policy analysis related to power sector decarbonization.

The related events series covers topics such as carbon capture and sequestration, advanced nuclear energy, enhanced geothermal systems, energy storage, and direct air capture. The series will conclude with an additional event showcasing the results of RFF’s analysis of how various policy proposals will drive investment in and deployment of these technologies.

RSVP

Learning Path: The Circular Economy in Detail

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The Ellen Macarthur Foundation is sponsoring a free, self-paced class on the circular economy, which they describe thus:

“A circular economy is a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment. In contrast to the “take-make-waste” linear model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources. After defining what an economy actually is, this learning path explores the nuances of the concept of a circular economy with text, videos, and interactive and reflective exercises. It probes the difference between biological and technical materials, the different opportunities that exist to keep materials and products in use, and the history of the idea.”

Super interesting material and great user interface–they both make a compelling case and make it easy to engage with the content. By the time you complete the reading, videos, and exercises, the benefits of shifting from a linear to a circular economy will be clear as will how they apply to all of the work we do as naturalists.

This opportunity is approved for CE credit for FMN members.

Check back regularly for links to additional resources from which you can learn more and, maybe, will want to review for us here. This subject is amazingly rich. Please share your thoughts and resources in comments and we’ll add them to this repo.

Hope Jahren: The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where We Go From Here. Honestly, the entire book is quotable, but here are some take-aways from one early Sunday morning: “An effort tempered by humility will go much further than one armored with righteousness…. We [scientists] are watching and working, not just worrying. Climate science is part of science after all…. Having hope requires courage. It matters how we talk about this. Everything we do matters.” (Consider starting with Appendix 1: The Action You Take, and then go dig into the data in the rest of the book.) By the way, she reads the audio book herself, and she’s a kind teacher.

Joel Onorato: Stop Going Round in Circles About the Circular Economy; also see his awesome presentation to the Sierra Club as pdf or live (along with the materials of the other panelists). “Keeping materials in use means preserving the maximum value of each thing that has been produced for the longest time possible. Reuse it as long as you can (give it to another user or share it). Repair it if you can’t reuse it as is. Or, if it has too little value, then remanufacture it (turn it back into something with an as-new condition). At worst, break it down and recycle each material (or compost it) for another future use.”

Rare’s Inspiring Human Nature: Tim Ma, Chef and Garbage Picker. “Tim Ma embraces his garbage. The famed Washington, DC-area chef and restaurateur is notorious for turning food trash into dinner treasure—which he does both for environmental sustainability and his bottom-line. ‘I don’t know how I became DC’s food waste champion,’ he laughs. ‘But I love talking about it.’” Meet someone who walks his talk.

Jonathan Safran Foer: We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. The term circular economy never appears in this book because it’s about particular decisions we make and “our all-too-human reluctance to sacrifice immediate comfort for the sake of the future. We have, he reveals, turned our planet into a farm for growing animal products, and the consequences are catastrophic. Only collective action will save our home. And it all starts with what we eat—and don’t eat—for breakfast.” Please don’t let that stop you from considering his case and drawing your own insights. He wields data as effectively as Hope Jahren, and he tells a story just as compelling.

2020 Christmas Bird Counts and Alternatives

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Photo of Eastern Towhee by Bob Howdesell, CBC

Central Loudoun Christmas Bird Count
When: Monday, December 28, 2020
Join Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy as they participate in the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count. The count circle has a 15-mile diameter and covers 177 square miles of Loudoun’s countryside: north to Waterford, south to Aldie, east to Ashburn, and west to Purcellville. LWC will not be holding an in-person Tally Rally this year but may do something virtual. If you are interested in participating for just a couple of hours or the entire day, sign up here.

Reston Association’s Winter Bird Count
When: Saturday, January 2, 2021 7 am – 12 pm
Half-day annual bird count throughout Reston natural areas. Meet local bird experts, obtain tips on identification, and help with collecting vital information about our feathered friends. Register using code 106201205 or call (703) 476-9689, ext. 5, by December 30th.

Audubon Society of Northern Virginia plans to hold the 39th Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, December 20. This year’s count will be different, in light of the pandemic.

Instead of recruiting new participants, they will be limiting the count to last year’s participants who want to do the count under conditions that conform with pandemic restrictions, including wearing masks, maintaining social distance and carpooling with household members only. Instead of their count day lunch gathering, they will have an online “tally rally” in the evening of count day. If you participated in last year’s count, you should have received a message about participating this year.

If you were looking forward to volunteering for the first time for this CBC, they hope you’ll understand and volunteer next year. BUT there are still ways you can join the spirit of the count! Consider these possibilities or invent your own:

Join the Free Zoom CBC Celebration and Summary:

Learn about highlights of this year’s CBC and celebrate with the CBC community. Register here.

Do Your Own Count:

Walk through your neighborhood or visit a park or refuge to gather observations and report your personal findings via eBird. (see below) Be sure to practice social distancing and wear a mask if within six feet of others!

Learn More About Useful Identification and Database Applications:

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a suite of useful tools and sites related to birding.

Explore many aspects of birding (species, hotspots, regions, etc.) at ebird.org.

You can also take a free course on their eBird smartphone application that allows you to document the species you see or hear. https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/product/ebird-essentials/

Take a free course on using another great smartphone app, Merlin Bird ID and other tools at https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org

Play learning games about birds at https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/learning-games/

Project FeederWatch:

Count birds that visit your feeders from the safety of your home or yard. Submit data from your sightings to contribute to winter and early bird counts. The 2020–21 FeederWatch season began on November 14 and ends on April 9. You can still sign up, and the last day to start a two-day count is April 8. Details are at https://feederwatch.org.

CBC Feeder Watchers:

If you reside in the Manassas-Bull Run CBC circle, you can count your feeder birds on December 20 and send a report that can be included in the official count. Contact the CBC compiler Phil Silas, [email protected] for details.

Audubon Afternoon with Dr. Sahas Barve, January 17th

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Photo by Jennifer Renteria

Sunday, January 17, 2021
3 – 4:30 pm
Free
Register here.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia and learn how birds stay warm in cold weather and extreme elevations. Sahas is an avian evolutionary ecologist and currently a Peter Buck Fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where he studies how birds stay warm in the high Himalayas. He is also an avid birder and hopes to see 6,000 bird species by the time he is 60. Learn more about him at his website www.sahasbarve.com.

A Naturalist Finds Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island, December 4th

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Photo by Melanie Choukas-Bradley

Friday, December 4, 2020
12 – 1:15 pm
Online event
Register here.

Explore Washington DC’s beautiful and wild Theodore Roosevelt Island with renowned naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley and Capital Nature.

Who knew that a kingfisher and Theodore Roosevelt island would be the antidote to a year full of disappointments? After the unexpected and surreal outcome of the 2016 election, Washington D.C. naturalist Melanie Choukas-Bradley discovered a new sense of hope and belonging as she explored the wild shores of the island, a green memorial to the United States’ foremost conservationist president. Join Capital Nature’s Stella Tarnay and Melanie as she traces the inspiring beauty and wild diversity of this 88.5-acre oasis.

The program is inspired by Melanie’s latest book Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island .

Attendees will be sent a link prior to this online event.

For more events like these, please visit the Capital Nature calendar!

Green Jobs Report: Community-Based Solutions for a Diverse Green Jobs Sector, Recording and Report

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The short- and long-term projections for the renewable energy sector are growth.

Renewable energy is expected to continue to increase in popularity and usage as utilities and regulators look to it as a viable option for replacing retiring capacity and customers choose it to save money and address the climate crisis. This interest is aligned with a recent poll that found 81% of Blacks, 73% of Latinos and 71% of white respondents think “clean” energy jobs can help people in their communities.

So how do we prepare the U.S. workforce for growth in the renewable energy sector? And ensure the process is just and equitable?

Members of the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum – Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Green Door Initiatives, WE ACT for Environmental Justice – along with GRID Alternatives answer these questions via their contributions to the “Green Jobs Report: Creating a Green Workforce, Community-Based Solutions for a Diverse Green Jobs Sector.”

This report outlines imperatives for bringing underrepresented groups into climate change work and the clean energy economy, and offers policy and best practice prescriptions for closing diversity gaps in the renewable energy industry and was released via webinar on December 9. Here is the recording.

Fairfax County Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) News

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Monthly CECAP Update: November 2020

Throughout November, the Fairfax County Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) team of staff and consultants have been working to prepare for the initial meetings of the CECAP Working Group sector-specific subgroups, taking place in early December. Per the CECAP Process Update shared in late October, the planning model has shifted from an approach based on the involvement of nine district level Focus Groups and one Task Force to an approach involving a single Working Group. The Working Group is composed of members of the former Focus Groups and Task Force, with a few new faces in the mix.

To advance discussion of emission reduction strategies and to allow all Working Group members the opportunity to actively participate and be heard, the Working Group has been split into two sector-specific subgroups. The first group, the Energy Subgroup, will focus on issues of energy efficiency, renewables, energy generation, and supply. The second group, the Transportation/Development Subgroup, will focus on transportation issues, land use, waste, and water. This group will have a more diverse portfolio. To read the full November CECAP update, please click here.

CECAP Working Group December Meetings Announced

All members of the public are invited to attend and observe the initial meetings of the two, new sector-specific CECAP Working Group subgroups, taking place December 1st and 2nd, 2020. These meetings will focus on emission reduction strategies that may help the Fairfax County community meet CECAP goals in the long-term. The meetings will take place online via WebEx. Meeting access information is available at the links below.

Join the December 1 CECAP Energy Subgroup meeting

Join the December 2 CECAP Transportation/Development Subgroup meeting

Public Feedback Summaries Now Online

The results of the public feedback provided between August 27 and September 13, 2020 via an online survey, three virtual public meetings, and via email to the public CECAP mailbox are now summarized and available online. A narrative summary of the survey results provides a question-by-question rundown of the responses given, and an overview of the public comments provides a window into the thoughts and concerns of the community. The findings of the public engagement process will be reviewed by county staff at the December 1 and December 2 CECAP subgroup meetings (see above).

Training for new Audubon at Home Ambassadors, December 6th

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Photo courtesy of audubonva.org

Sunday, December 6, 2020
2 pm
Register here.
Note: This training is for those interested in volunteering as Ambassadors, not a program for those wanting to learn how to landscape with native plants in their own yards.

Tami Sheiffer, Audubon at Home Coordinator for Fairfax County, will be holding virtual training for new volunteers interested in becoming Audubon at Home Ambassadors in Fairfax County.

Ambassadors are knowledgeable volunteers who expand quality wildlife habitat in Northern Virginia by sharing their knowledge of native plants and ecosystems with homeowners. As an Ambassador, you will conduct site visits, provide personalized advice to homeowners, and certify yards as wildlife sanctuaries. (The personalized recommendations are provided to the homeowner via email after the site visit so you will not be on the spot to provide all recommendations during the site visit.)

We have successfully resumed site visits since July with COVID-19 safety precautions in place. Site visits take place entirely outdoors, one on one or in small groups. Clients and Ambassadors must wear masks and fill out an online form prior to the site visit stating that no one in their families has symptoms. Followup communication with the recommendations is done through email.

Being an Ambassador is rewarding because you’re guiding people to make changes in their yards that noticeably improve wildlife habitat, as evidenced by the presence of sanctuary species. And, volunteering as an Ambassador is convenient because you schedule the site visit for a day and time that fits in your schedule. Clients are assigned based on proximity so you will usually not have to drive more than 15 minutes to a client’s house, and you can accept or decline clients based on your availability.

Introduction to Statistics Virtual Program (Presented live December 3rd)

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Presented and recorded by Clifton Institute

This talk is intended for community/citizen scientists who help collect data but may not have the knowledge they need to analyze it, for nature journalers who record numbers in their journals but aren’t sure what to do with them, and anyone else who is curious about how scientists use data to understand the world. Managing Director Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will give a brief introduction to the statistical methods biologists and other scientists use to analyze data. Eleanor will use interesting examples relevant to the ecology of northern Virginia throughout the talk. No mathematics beyond high-school level will be required. By the end of the talk you’ll understand what a p-value is and what it means when they say the phrase “statistically significant” on the news. And she hopes you’ll be inspired to try analyzing some data of your own.

Here is the recording of the talk.

Virginia Herpetological Society Fall Symposium, November 21st

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Saturday, November 21, 2020
9 am – 5:30 pm
On FaceBook Live
Public welcome!

Join the Virginia Herpetological Society on Facebook Live for presentations by speakers from Virginia as well as internationally-renowed herpetologists. Topics include “Snakes of Costa Rica,” “History of Antivenom in the United States,” and “Virginia Herpetology: 2020 in review.”

Full schedule and speakers’ bios here.