Eco-Justice

By Namrita Kapur

Here’s a quick pop quiz to test your knowledge on financing energy efficiency. True or False: 

1. Energy efficiency financing provides risk-adjusted returns in the mid-to-high “teens.”

Answer: True

2. Energy efficiency is the hot, new asset class with massive amounts of investment capital catalyzing upgrades in building stocks and industrial facilities across the country to realize significant greenhouse gas reductions in the near-term.

Answer: False

As crazy as it may seem, this paradox exists today.  The Conference Board and McKinsey & Co. predict that energy efficiency is a $170 billion per year investment opportunity that can provide an average 17 percent rate of return. At Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) we’ve demonstrated the potential return through our work with leading business partners.  Our EDF Climate Corps program has identified investments to date that can create a whopping $439 million of savings in net operating costs. Another example – our work with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) has yielded over $160 million in energy efficiency savings across seven of KKR’s portfolio companies since the Green Portfolio Program began in 2008. Despite all of the promising research and results, we are currently seeing only a fraction of investment capital needed to realize these benefits. 

Investing in energy efficiency is important to our goals at EDF to clean up the air we breathe and stabilize our climate, and we set out to better understand how we can catalyze this marketplace.  We reviewed the literature; spoke with investors from firms Sustainable Development Capital LLP, Hudson Clean Energy Partners and GE Capital; and captured lessons learned from our work with leading business partners like KKR and programs like EDF Climate Corps.  We’ve consolidated the results of our research into a new report, “Show Me the Money: Energy Efficiency Financing Opportunities and Barriers,” which explores how organizations can overcome the challenges to energy efficiency financing and maximize the opportunities that are available for business and our planet.  We hope you will utilize the research we’ve collected and join  us in stimulating this marketplace.  Heck, we would be happy even if you by-passed us altogether and went straight to taking advantage of this lucrative asset class.

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By Will Bucher, EDF Intern, Corporate Partnerships

Understandably, hectic schedules and information overflow makes it easy for news to sometimes slip through the cracks. This is why we want to recap some of the exciting things we’ve been working on over the last few months at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

New Study Outlines Economic and Environmental Benefits to Reducing Nitrogen Pollution

A study co-authored by EDF chief scientist Steve Hamburg shows that reducing nitrogen pollution generated by wastewater treatment plants can come with sizable economic benefits, in addition to the expected benefits for the environment. The study was published in Environmental Science & Technology and examined both the use of carbon credits and the impacts of energy savings in determining that the cost of upgrades to nitrogen filtration systems in waste water treatment plants could be off-set by as much as 70%.

According to James Wang, the chief author of the paper, “Our study shows that there's a win-win-win situation out there waiting to be realized. The creation of an emissions trading market could provide the needed incentive for wastewater treatment plants to adopt technologies that would reduce climate pollution, help clean up our waterways, and even save energy and money."

For the full text of the study, click here.

EDF asks for Prompt Review of Oil Spill Recovery Projects

EDF and a coalition of other conservation groups expressed support on Monday for Louisiana's swift action to identify and propose potential restoration projects that qualify for BP's $1 billion down payment toward the Deepwater Horizon oil spill clean up. Louisiana's release of its project list Monday is an important step toward getting restoration projects underway, but BP, federal and state trustees must approve the projects before the state can proceed.

"We applaud the state of Louisiana's efforts to move swiftly in assessing a long and complex list of restoration project proposals against early NRDA criteria," said the joint statement.”

"We support efforts to use early NRDA funding to advance projects that are ready to be implemented, as long they are based upon tested techniques that have had proven successful in achieving restoration goals for the Mississippi River Delta and for addressing damages caused by the spill," the groups concluded.

For the original news release, click here.

Innovation Challenge to Restore Dead Zones in the Gulf

Currently more than 50% of fertilizer applied to commercial crops in the U.S. is not absorbed by the plants and is instead lost to water and air, causing dangerous environmental and health impacts. Excess agricultural nitrogen (one of the main components of fertilizer) is a main cause of dead zones–literally, places where fish cannot survive–in the Gulf of Mexico and Chesapeake Bay. Excess nitrogen can also change forms and become a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

To help solve this problem, EDF is working with the Iowa Soybean Association on two challenges. The first Challenge deals with tile drains–these are porous pipes that lay beneath many farm fields and are used to keep the land well-drained. Unfortunately, they also provide an efficient route for fertilizer to pollute rivers, lakes, and drinking water supplies. We're looking for ideas on how to capture or treat the nitrogen in those pipes. The second Challenge is to find new ways–including remote sensing and real-time monitoring–for farms of all sizes to evaluate the effectiveness of their fertilizer management practices for crop growth and yield.

For the original post, click here.

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Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF

Exports from the Bay-Delta may reach an all-time high in 2011. Through July 15, pumping for the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project has totaled 4.86 million acre-feet. With ample supplies in northern reservoirs and Sierra rivers still full of melting snow, it is likely that the pumps will continue to run at or near capacity through the end of the water year (September 30).

As shown in Figure 1, the annual export total is projected to reach 6,610,000 acre-feet – 140,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005.

The record export level is expected even though pumping levels were reduced not only during much of the winter and spring to protect salmon and other endangered fish but also in the late fall and early winter due to mechanical problems at State Water Project facilities. 

It is rare of course that water is as abundant as it is this year. In drier years let's make sure limited supplies are distributed fairly to all — families, farmers and fishermen alike.

By: Ifeoma Henry-Ajudua, 2011 Climate Corps Public Sector Fellow at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC; MBA/MIS candidate at North Carolina Central University

My EDF partner, Bridget Wilson, and I, the Team Bennett fellows, are off to a good start at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. Bennett College is a historically black, all-women’s college founded in 1873 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This presents a big challenge for us regarding energy efficiency because upgrades and changes must stay within strict building guidelines. We are working closely with students to create an energy savings plan that everyone can get excited about.

Bennett has been working on lighting upgrades, replacing dead T-12 bulbs and ballasts with energy efficient T-8 systems. Hearing about this initiative early on, our first project was determining if it was more cost and energy efficient to replace T-12 lights only when they stop working, or to replace them right away with T-8 lights. After analyzing the sizes of the buildings, lifespan of the old lighting, cost of the new bulbs and ballasts – and factoring in Duke Energy’s Super Saver Program – we saw that the best option was to immediately upgrade the lighting systems. In order to show Bennett the potential cost savings and promote upgraded lighting, we are running a pilot program in the Pfeiffer Science building. The data from this building will be used to create a campus wide feasibility and execution plan.

A second quick score for Team Bennett came when Coca-Cola in Greensboro agreed to de-lamp all of the machines on campus. We are also recommending installing “vending misers,” which work like a sleep setting for a vending machine when nobody is around. Vending machines normally run full-time for the entire year. Installing a miser reduces energy use by 1,640 kWh —more than $800 of savings per year. The energy saved also keeps 2,000 pounds of greenhouse gas pollution, 5 pounds of nitrous oxides, and 12 pounds of sulfur oxides out of the atmosphere. The payback period for the low-tech vending misers? Less than 3 years.

Team Bennett has more great projects in the works, including one in the dorms. We are starting work on heating, cooling, and water savings. More to follow as summer progresses!

EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) trains graduate students to identify energy efficiency savings in colleges, universities, local governments and houses of worship.  The program focuses on partnerships with minority serving institutions and diverse communities.  Apply as a CCPS fellow, read our blog posts and follow us on Twitter to get regular updates about this program.

By Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation

To kick coastal restoration into high gear and to create a sustainable coast, reconnecting the river to the marsh in a controlled way and allowing the delivery of sediment is key. Sediment deposited through marsh-building diversions will build an ever-expanding platform which, as it grows, will become vegetated. This vegetation will trap more sediment, leading to even more land growth. This mimics the natural processes that built our coast and offers hope of creating a sustainable coastal area that can hold its own in the face of sea level rise and other stressors.

Still, there is doubt among the public about whether diversions can really build land, much of which is based on experience with two existing diversions: Caernarvon and Davis Pond. What is lost in much of the discussion is that these structures were not intended to be "marsh-building" diversions. They were built and intended as "freshwater" diversions, designed to impact salinities in the estuaries east and west of the Mississippi River.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZV1sgQW-DA

Now we have an opportunity with the Myrtle Grove Medium Diversion and Dedicated Dredging Project to consider how to design and construct a marsh-building diversion that takes maximum advantage of the sediment and water in the river to build land. A new film, "Mending the Marsh: Local Support for Myrtle Grove", examines the Myrtle Grove project and its associated opportunities and challenges. This video is part of a series that will illuminate the promise of marsh-building diversions as critical components of a sustainable coast.

So pop some popcorn and enjoy as Ryan Lambert and Foster Creppel lead you on an exploration of the marsh-building potential of the Myrtle Grove diversion.

In the fourth installment of our Faces of the Delta series, you will meet John Koeferl: retired carpenter and environmental advocate, fighting to protect "the wetland of our nation."

By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation

Name: John Koeferl

Location: Holy Cross/Gentilly Terrace, New Orleans, Louisiana

Occupation: Retired carpenter, environmental advocate

Tell me about your connection to south Louisiana. I came to New Orleans for graduate school at Tulane and stayed here from then on—loved the city. I raised my family for 20 years in Holy Cross (a neighborhood in the Lower 9th Ward) and moved to Gentilly Terrace 10 days before Hurricane Katrina. (John and his wife kept their home in Holy Cross and are still very active in the neighborhood association there.)

John Koeferl: Restoration is important because the Mississippi River Delta is the wetland of our nation.

What does south Louisiana mean to you? South Louisiana means home. New Orleans is a special place for me—a unique place on earth. It is not boring; nothing is straightforward.

What are your favorite things about the area? The trees, streets, houses, neighborhoods—I gradually grew to know and appreciate the culture and people. I got involved in politics as a regional planner for historical and archeological sites and was so impressed with the detail and craftsmanship.

How has coastal land loss impacted your life? It’s been awful. We lost our home in Lower Nine, our neighborhood. Almost everyone we knew was affected. Every house was flooded. We weren’t protected. We knew it was going to happen, but no one would listen. The Army Corps has an abusive process that favors special interests, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up.

Why do you think coastal restoration efforts are important? Restoration is important because the Mississippi River Delta is the wetland of our nation. The estuary is important. People have lived here for generations, making their living off the land. That’s all jeopardized.

What obstacles do you see hindering restoration? I see that Louisiana’s been ceded to special interests that have great political influence and money to keep the cycle going. It’s very harmful and obvious. The media is also part of the problem because they often side with large corporations. Things can change when we vote, but people are too busy and there is so much b–––––––. Change won’t happen automatically: it will require a change in the country’s direction. What we’ve done in the last 100 years has been very misguided. Congress has been a servant of corporations, and what’s happening here is a symptom of a much greater problem.

What should people around the country know about efforts to rebuild New Orleans and surrounding communities and protect this area from another powerful storm that they don’t already know? They should know that we need their help—not just to sign checks, but to reform the way we treat our coast. This is a national problem and responsibility because we are jeopardized by national decisions. It’s been done by Congress because people weren’t aware of the impacts. We don’t need to be rescued, but we need people to realize that this is in their interest. It’s part of one country and one ecosystem.

Gray skies shroud the ruins of Six Flags New Orleans in this January 2011 photo of the shuttered theme park (Source: Flickr (Dr. Warner))

In New Orleans East, twisted hulks of rusting metal and rapidly deteriorating buildings are all that’s left of Six Flags New Orleans, an amusement park that opened in 2000 as Jazzland Theme Park before it was sold and renamed in 2002. Three years later, and after millions of dollars had been sunk into its roller coasters, concourses, and locally-themed attractions, Six Flags New Orleans was damaged beyond repair and abandoned by its parent company after Hurricane Katrina and levee failures brought wind, water, and misery to the Mississippi River Delta. Dozens of people lost their jobs when the facility closed, and a former tourist attraction in one of the poorer sections of the Big Easy became a bothersome money pit for the cash-strapped city.

Earlier this month, Brian Moylan at Gawker posted a short but powerful piece about the squalid state of Six Flags New Orleans. The accelerated decline of this abandoned amusement park serves as a visible reminder of the perils of investing in casinos, convention centers and other recreational projects in Gulf Coast states without comprehensive planning for coastal protection. While sections of this particular park were shielded by berms, these barriers were quickly overwhelmed once put to the test in the summer of ‘05.

(Click to enlarge) Long Gone Sliver: A lobe of marshes and swamps east of New Orleans is shown as “Low and Marshy Meadows” in this somewhat distorted map of the Mississippi River Delta from the mid-18th century. Today, the wetlands in that section of coastal Louisiana (roughly equivalent to St. Bernard Parish) have largely been replaced by open water (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

One way to guard against such vulnerability is to focus on marrying grey infrastructure like floodwalls with green infrastructure like wetlands to provide multiple lines of defense. This is a strategy that can save people and secure places in flood zones, both of which are necessary for communities and companies to bounce back from disaster. The eastern reaches of New Orleans were once protected by miles of marshlands and swamps, but years of neglect and poor choices devastated these habitats, exposing New Orleans East and other sections of the Ninth Ward to more powerful storm surges during hurricanes.

Undoing the damage has been a slow and laborious process. For too long, residents and businesses in this region have had to content themselves with piecemeal restoration projects that failed to demonstrate the buffering capacity of coastal wetlands. At the same time, torrid development of the central Gulf Coast’s tourism sector has led to the placement of recreation facilities closer and closer to the rapidly eroding coast. Now, we finally have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to commit billions of dollars in Clean Water Act (CWA) fines from BP towards environmental initiatives that could also provide huge economic and insurance benefits for infrastructure and corporate facilities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other states along the Gulf of Mexico.

Tears of a Clown (Source: Flickr (Keoni Cabral))

It’s alarming then that some parties remain dismissive of proposals to invest BP’s CWA penalty payments in restoration of environmental buffers like cypress forests and mangrove swamps that could shield communities (and their amusement park complexes) from hurricane-induced floods. For such naysayers, I would recommend a visit to the ruins of Jazzland. They won't find snow cones or fun times on the Ferris wheel during their trip to the park, but I know that a sobering stroll through the remnants of Six Flags New Orleans would remind them of what’s at stake, and how much more could be lost, if we don't change business as usual on the Gulf Coast.

Houston (and the Rest of Texas) Benefit From the EPA's Efforts

In an editorial today, the Houston Chronicle lauded the EPA for developing sensible rules that protect human health while keeping impacts to industry as minimal as possible. Specifically the Chronicle pointed out that EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) will save lives and improve Texans' health with benefits that far outweigh the impacts to industry in the state.  Pushing back against Governor Perry and TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw's unfounded claims of massive job losses, the Chronicle's editorial board had this to say about Perry's political posturing:

"We're well aware that Perry is contemplating a presidential run, and that "federal overreach" plays well to some Texas voters, but clean air doesn't stop or start at the state line. Texas emissions pollute the air of other states, including Louisiana, Illinois and Michigan, but our Texas air is in turn polluted by emissions from at least 12 other states."

TCEQ: Fighting the EPA While the EPA Works with Texas Businesses

These issues were raised at a conference earlier this week, where I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with Chairman Shaw as well as former TCEQ Chair and current Texas Public Policy Foundation Fellow (a conservative Texas think tank funded in part by fossil fuel interests) Kathleen Hartnett White.   Both Shaw and White have long been critics of what they see as 'federal government overreach,' although noticeably neither were vocal on this issue when in 2007 the Bush administration declared TCEQ's flexible permitting program was "in violation of the Clean Air Act."  (See Appendix 5-6 of the link). Still, Shaw continued to use the EPA's actions on flexible permitting as an example of federal overreach that in his opinion threatens jobs more than it helps the environment. 

It's too bad the panel was so early in the morning; later that day the EPA announced that "all ‘flexible permit’ companies in Texas have agreed to apply for approved air permits."  While TCEQ dug in its heels, refusing to develop a program for Texas businesses that doesn't violate federal law, the EPA worked with businesses to comply with the law.  The EPA's action will help achieve clean air in Texas and provide those companies with the regulatory certainty they've been lacking for so many years under the TCEQ.  Governor Perry and Chairman Shaw have followed a similar game plan with the CSAPR, playing politics with Texas businesses and Texans' health.

Seeking Special treatment for Texas

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is intended to resolve an issue that's been known about for years, namely that air pollution doesn't stop at state lines.  Pollution in Texas makes it that much harder for states nearby to meet their clean air goals, meanwhile pollution in other states can have a similar impact on Texas, so the rule also protects our state.  It's unfortunate that Governor Perry and Chairman Shaw aren't interested in working with the 26 other states to help us all achieve cleaner air, but their actions have made it clear that they believe Texas should be treated differently than the other 49 states.  

This rule has been in development since the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule was struck down by the Supreme Court – it will save lives and improve health.  In a state with the highest level of uninsured residents this rule is an opportunity to help our citizens and our economy.  As the Houston Chronicle said today: "We're all in this together. So maybe it's time to start looking at ourselves as beneficiaries, not victims, of the EPA's efforts, and to cooperate instead of blowing smoke."

This post was written by Colin Meehan, Clean Energy Analyst for EDF's Energy Program

Houston (and the Rest of Texas) Benefit From the EPA's Efforts

In an editorial today, the Houston Chronicle lauded the EPA for developing sensible rules that protect human health while keeping impacts to industry as minimal as possible. Specifically the Chronicle pointed out that EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) will save lives and improve Texans' health with benefits that far outweigh the impacts to industry in the state.  Pushing back against Governor Perry and TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw's unfounded claims of massive job losses, the Chronicle's editorial board had this to say about Perry's political posturing:

"We're well aware that Perry is contemplating a presidential run, and that "federal overreach" plays well to some Texas voters, but clean air doesn't stop or start at the state line. Texas emissions pollute the air of other states, including Louisiana, Illinois and Michigan, but our Texas air is in turn polluted by emissions from at least 12 other states."

TCEQ: Fighting the EPA While the EPA Works with Texas Businesses

These issues were raised at a conference earlier this week, where I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with Chairman Shaw as well as former TCEQ Chair and current Texas Public Policy Foundation Fellow (a conservative Texas think tank funded in part by fossil fuel interests) Kathleen Hartnett White.   Both Shaw and White have long been critics of what they see as 'federal government overreach,' although noticeably neither were vocal on this issue when in 2007 the Bush administration declared TCEQ's flexible permitting program was "in violation of the Clean Air Act."  (See Appendix 5-6 of the link). Still, Shaw continued to use the EPA's actions on flexible permitting as an example of federal overreach that in his opinion threatens jobs more than it helps the environment. 

It's too bad the panel was so early in the morning; later that day the EPA announced that "all ‘flexible permit’ companies in Texas have agreed to apply for approved air permits."  While TCEQ dug in its heels, refusing to develop a program for Texas businesses that doesn't violate federal law, the EPA worked with businesses to comply with the law.  The EPA's action will help achieve clean air in Texas and provide those companies with the regulatory certainty they've been lacking for so many years under the TCEQ.  Governor Perry and Chairman Shaw have followed a similar game plan with the CSAPR, playing politics with Texas businesses and Texans' health.

Seeking Special treatment for Texas

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is intended to resolve an issue that's been known about for years, namely that air pollution doesn't stop at state lines.  Pollution in Texas makes it that much harder for states nearby to meet their clean air goals, meanwhile pollution in other states can have a similar impact on Texas, so the rule also protects our state.  It's unfortunate that Governor Perry and Chairman Shaw aren't interested in working with the 26 other states to help us all achieve cleaner air, but their actions have made it clear that they believe Texas should be treated differently than the other 49 states.  

This rule has been in development since the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule was struck down by the Supreme Court – it will save lives and improve health.  In a state with the highest level of uninsured residents this rule is an opportunity to help our citizens and our economy.  As the Houston Chronicle said today: "We're all in this together. So maybe it's time to start looking at ourselves as beneficiaries, not victims, of the EPA's efforts, and to cooperate instead of blowing smoke."

The micro-economics of sustainability are big and important: according to The Brookings Institution, the “clean economy” employs 2.7 million workers, which compares favorably to fossil fuels at 2.4 million jobs.  That figure represents 57,501 firms in the U.S. directly involved in the clean economy.  Of course, I continue to believe many important clean economy jobs in the supply chain are missed in these types of studies.  For example, Shuttleworth in Indiana diversified its customer base from solely electronics customers to now having roughly 30% of its business from solar customers.  While it may be near impossible to capture these nuances in standard Bureau of Labor Statistics data, such examples illustrate even more how the clean economy provides added value for U.S. job retention and creation (see the The Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness report for more information on the diverse firms in involved in the supply chains for many clean energy solutions).

Source: Brookings

Most encouraging, however, are two other key findings: the high growth rate for the clean economy sub-sector related to clean energy – 8.3% from 2003-2010 which is essentially double the growth rate for the entire economy during the same period (4.2%).   Secondly, the report documents the export strength of this sector of the clean economy versus the overall economy:  $20,129 versus $10,390 per job.  To bring us out of the recession and reduce the deficit, we need economic activity that enables us to grow fast and export more.  Look no further than the clean energy economy.   The growth rate validates an earlier study by the Pew Charitable Trusts published in 2009 characterizing the Clean Energy Economy which found a growth rate of 9.1% from 1998-2007.

So, what do these companies need to fulfill their promise?   More than anything, they need a predictable stream of U.S. customers.  So, every time a politician talks about the need to create jobs, reduce the deficit and grow America again, ask him or her what they are doing to create policies that deliver customers to these firms.