Cold Outside, but Hot In Place

What does road paving have to do with Climate Change?  Well, as much as I wish we had a better solution, for the foreseeable future anyway, we are going to need roads. And if we are going to need roads we are going to need to find cheaper and cleaner ways to make and keep them smooth. Cleaner ways, using far less energy and shipping of raw materials will be a major way local governments can reduce their costs and their carbon footprint.  We can Cut Costs and Cut Carbon!

If you are like me you take a smooth ride in your car for granted.  Driving is a little bit like life – the only time you notice it’s not smooth is when you hit a pothole.  In colder climates like New York and the northeast maintaining smooth roads is much more difficult than other places. Dozens of times each year the temperatures fluctuate from freezing temperatures to thawing.

As the water turns to ice, through the miracle of changing molecular structure, the flexible fluid converts to an expanding and rigid molecule.  The expansion of water which has slithered into small cracks and crevices acts like the opening of a vice.  It slowly breaks road surfaces open and creates potholes and cracks which become worse with time, wear and further freezing and thawing.  This is just one of the reasons the cost of government is higher in colder environments.

The problem of keeping roads smooth is a perpetual battle against the “law of entropy.” It is a problem of local governments everywhere but it is most difficult where temperatures go below freezing.

Some places get started freezing and thawing early,.

 

 If we look at the map of the US with the earliest freeze date we get an idea of where the local governments are the busiest filling potholes and cracks.

According to the American Road and Transportation Builders (http://bit.ly/2E0veAn) There are 2.7 million miles of paved roads in the United States and 77% of all roads are the responsibility of local government.  If Mayors and County Executives can’t keep the roads smooth then America is in for a bumpy ride. Adding to the challenge of maintaining that smooth cross-country ride is that 1.18 Million miles of roads are in urban areas and many city governments are already burdened with the high cost of healthcare and pensions for their employees.

The challenge of maintaining smooth roads presents an opportunity for innovation. Let’s look at how road paving has traditionally occurred:

• Roads are mechanically milled down various depths (2”-3”) using fossil fuel powered vehicles.  Millings are trucked away in diesel trucks creating traffic.
• Millings are often stockpiled in high, unsightly mounds with no reuse and if they are reused they must be trucked on those same dirty diesels.
• The new stone is quarried often at great distances from the asphalt plant and trucked to the plant creating more pollutions and traffic congestion.
• The asphalt plant receives shipments of crude oil shipped from around the globe using large ships, pipelines, and trucks.  
• The oil products and stone are combined using a tremendous amount of energy to create new asphalt.
• Asphalt is then shipped by diesel trucks to the site of paving and multiple vehicles apply the new asphalt.  Then all the trucks return to do it all again and again.

We literally move heaven and earth for a smooth ride.  Even a cursory examination shows that this is an energy intensive, traffic and pollution producing system.  We’ve got trucks, fossil fuels, ships, equipment running all over the place. What if we could just take the asphalt that’s there and remake it, rejuvenate it, put it back down and roll it smooth?  Well, we can and we do.  The process is called Hot In Place Recycling.

Hot In Place Recycling (HIPR)  is exactly what it sounds like.  A new, smooth road surface is created right in place.  Massive machinery crawls down a road like a fire-breathing dragon.  It gobbles a lane at a time, grinding up about 3 inches of the existing road, reheating it, rejuvenating it, spreading it and rolling it smooth all in one fell swoop!

Nothing is wasted and little new material is needed, traffic keeps moving and the biggest problem you have is parking the vehicles overnight (they are pretty big) and protecting street trees from the heat.  It is a terrific product that saves money and fights climate change.  It has been researched and gets good reviews.

One place that has used this and studied it objectively is Wisconsin.  Look at the map above and find Wisconsin.   If you’ve ever seen a Packers game televised from Lambeau Field in Green Bay you already have a pretty good image of tough, “cheese-head” conditions.

Wisconsin know freezing and thawing very well

So confidence is high with The State of Wisconsin DOT who thoroughly examined Hot In Place Recycling.

Wisconsin DOT found:

• HIPR recycles 100 percent of the existing pavement reducing the need for new aggregate and asphalt.
• Uses less energy than other rehabilitation methods…
• HIPR does not require transportation of large quantities of new material to the job site resulting in fewer traffic disruptions from trucks entering and leaving the work area (and less pollution).
• HIPR lay down temperatures are lower than conventional HMA (Hot Mix Asphalt, new from the plant) and the paving train moves slower. Both of these factors reduce the length of lane closures as compared to conventional HMA. The shorter lane closures mean traffic can pass through the work area more quickly, reducing delays.  
• The initial cost of HIPR pavement is less than traditional HMA.

You can find their full report at: (https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/738.1.pdf).

The carbon footprint reduction for HIPR is enormous. Somebody really should quantify it because recycling asphalt virtually eliminates the need to strip mine gravel, transport raw materials, depend on foreign oil, clog roads with hundreds of diesel trucks or tie up traffic for extended periods of time.

Best of all, it is much cheaper.  Most estimates are that it is at least 40% less expensive even after an additions seal coat is applied.  In my experience in the City of Bridgeport, we paid approximately$8/square yard of pavement for this green alternative as compared to $19/per square yard of conventional, HMA paving. We nearly doubled the number of roads we could make smooth and we dramatically cleaned the air and reduced our greenhouse gas emissions.

Highway Rehab Corporation

A Buffalo, NY company, Highway Rehab Corporation,  has been a pioneer in this innovative way of keeping our roads smooth.  Here is a pretty cool slideshow with lots of information about the technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nacnL06oggs

And here is a terrific video http://bit.ly/2C0Agj0 by Chris Lubbers an Asphalt Industry Expert. 

Fighting Climate Change requires us to look at all we do and to change.  We can cut carbon and cut costs and live happily ever after!

Bill Finch

“Interdependence”

In my first blog post, I wrote that “we are all connected” and since then I learned a little bit more.  I recently had a chance to discuss that idea and Climate Change with a consummate New York State Government insider. Though Paul Shatsoff has retired from state employment, he keeps his extensive network and healthy understanding of the issues as Executive Director of the New York State Academy of Public Administration, (https://stateacademy.org/)

Paul Shatsoff – Worked with the Workforce Development Institute and organized labor to create hundreds of green jobs in New York and the trained workforce to fill them.

After leaving government service, Paul worked for the Workforce Development Institute (WDI), a non-profit with a statewide presence, as its Director of Energy Sector Programs.  In this role, he worked closely with, organized labor and others to support hundreds of green jobs in New York through education, training and dissemination of information about the potential contributions that clean energy can make to the economy.

Paul spoke with me about a guiding principle of his – “Interdependence.”  When I wrote that each of us must do a better job of understanding our connection to the natural world and maintaining our balance within it.  I was thinking of our part in the natural web of life and how our “conquest” mentality over Nature has put us in peril.

But Paul’s phrase “Interdependence,” adds another dimension.  It made me think of our natural role as a species in that web of life, but also acknowledges our effect on other human beings and their effect on us. The human ecosystem – our business, education, government, families, and communities – is part of Nature’s web of life.  We are certainly all connected – we are interdependent with all of Nature, all of its beings, and most certainly with all our fellow humans.

We are all connected and we are interdependent.

Paul argues that it is through more interdependence, and the cooperation it requires, that we will enjoy more peace, stability, jobs, a clean and environment with lower emissions of Greenhouse Gases.  “Interdependence” = A Better, Peaceful Planet.

Paul told me about how Israel is now creating enough clean water that they are exporting some to Jordan which has a water shortage.  Interdependence = Peace.  Israel captures rainwater, purifies wastewater,  desalinates salt water and conserves water with efficient agricultural methods. They utilize “grey” water (like the purified wastewater) wherever they can to safely displace drinking water. Why use drinking water to flush your toilet?  Here is a link to a New York Times article which more fully explains this partnership between these two countries.  http://nyti.ms/2CEQs5e

Israeli firms pioneered drip irrigation adding efficiency and carbon reduction to agriculture

Israeli firms pioneered drip irrigation adding efficiency and carbon reduction to agriculture.  They also have outsourced their water technology for economic development at home and to build bridges with countries that had not been friendly toward them.

Israel is now exporting water

 

 

What if we inhabitants of Spaceship Earth all realized how we are part of both the larger natural ecosystem and a human ecosystem within the natural one? What if we acknowledged our reliance on both human and natural systems and that we are part of them – inseparable?  What if we lived as if humans and all life depend on each other – that there is a global interdependence of all life? An interdependence that by definition must include humans and all that we do.  What if we had the benefit of more of that kind of thinking?  We might even be able to create surplus water in a desert!

∞∞∞∞∞∞

How can “interdependence” help fight Climate Change?  I believe starting from the point of “connectedness” and “interdependence” helps create awareness and solutions to fighting climate change.  Resulting projects, jobs, new markets and revenue streams, create more inter-dependencies and then more projects – a virtuous cycle.

A multitude of projects like offshore wind, solar, efficient agriculture, water treatment, geothermal, fuel cells…the list is too long for this paragraph…will cut carbon and cut costs.  Green or renewable projects create jobs, reduce costs and help save the planet.  Once we understand the magic of our “interdependence” like Paul Shatsoff does we will be better off.

Paul, in his role at the Workforce Development Institute, helped the construction trade unions to capitalize on” interdependence” by creating the strategic coalitions and relationships necessary to train workers for the green jobs here in New York and beyond.  The Workforce Development Institute of New York, where Paul worked (https://wdiny.org/)  has been at the forefront of assessing the industry needs and supporting public policies, funding, and training to secure the jobs of the 21st Century.   Their recent study on offshore wind is helping to build support so that more clean energy is possible throughout  New York.

WDI’s recent report has helped to galvanize the discussion and help make this strategic part of Governor Cuomo’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” a reality  (https://rev.ny.gov/about/).  The WDI report says “The offshore wind energy industry” will require “workers across all project phases…and represents an opportunity for a wide variety of New York’s workforce.”  As Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer told me years ago “Fighting Climate Change is about Aunt Mable’s light bill and Uncle Joe’s Job!”

Elegant Offshore windmills (technically turbines, but I like “windmill” it reminds me of Holland and tulips and those terrific cookies!) will create jobs, generate clean electricity close to where it is needed, cut costs and fight climate change.  What could be more harmonious with Nature than using the natural wind currents to create power for buildings and businesses?  The installations can be done in cooperation with the fishing industry to make sure we do not impact our ability to catch tomorrow’s supper!

Here is a terrific flier by Siemens which explains offshore windmills:

http://sie.ag/2Bhsnp7

And here is the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) master plan which explains where windmills will go and how much clean, renewable power this bold initiative will create.  (http://on.ny.gov/2ko0FME). Because of the hard work of NYSERDA and the Governor we have great headlines like this one:

New York is leading the way on renewable energy of all kinds including offshore wind.  Under the leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State has created forward-thinking policies and laws to fight climate change in meaningful ways. Governor Cuomo’s aggressive Reforming the Energy Vision  (https://rev.ny.gov/) will reach these goals by 2030:

• 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels
• 50% of electricity generated must come from renewable sources
• 23% reduction in energy consumption of buildings from 2012 levels
• ∞∞∞∞∞

The 50 States, the 195 nations, the 7.4 billion people, all the flora, and fauna, we are all interdependent, we are all connected.  And thanks to people like Paul we are realizing it just in the nick of time.

Bill Finch

(I originally published this 0n 12/20/17, but due to some very kind editing by a reader, I am reposting the improved issue today. )

DiCaprio: “It’s like arguing that gravity doesn’t exist.”

As I wrote previously John Kerry convened an important series of meetings at Yale recently.  Through his Kerry Initiative of Yale’s Jackson Institute, he convened and chaired powerful Climate Week forums.  I mentioned in ClimateChange2020 two weeks ago I would write more about what some of the sharpest minds on Climate had to say.  Many thanks to Dan Esty, former Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and the Environment, and Yale faculty member for inviting me.

Secretary Kerry interviewing Leonardo DiCaprio.

Organized by The Climate Group (https://www.theclimategroup.org/our-work), Climate Week has been held since 2009.  It is held “in support of the implementation of the Paris and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”  In light of the US President’s intended withdrawal from those agreements, and denial of climate change itself (and maybe gravity as well?), this year’s events took on a unique feel. 

The Kerry Initiative held two forums, one “The Future of Energy” at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science and another “The Role of the Private Sector” at the Yale School of Management. Despite the US going from a world leader on climate change to lone denier, it seemed like there was a defiant little bounce in everyone’s step. Every panelist at some point concurred that business, community, and Mayors will be the ones to figure out how the US, the biggest greenhouse gas polluter per capita, will meet our Paris Accord commitment.

“Deep de-carbonization, requires deep innovation.” according to Dr. Ernie Moniz, Former U.S. Secretary of Energy, and that innovation would create tens of thousands of jobs.  But the technologies springing from the innovation and research which would manage carbon and discover new uses for CO2 would require and new business models.  Federal leadership in the form of regulations and price signals would be the best way to succeed.  Moniz said that local action, behind the electric meter, actions that would include business leaders and workers, would need to be aggressive.
Together labor and management must take action and help create policies which are sustainable and become a routine part of management.  

Here’s where my own experience kicked in.  I couldn’ help but remember my frustrations of working with utilities.  They often wanted to partner with me as a Mayor but were constrained by regulations.  Regulations, according to panel member Tony Early, dating back to Thomas Edison! 

Believe it or not, the model is still a “rate-based” model.  Utilities are rewarded for investments in the electrical grid (the big and little wires that bring electrons to our homes) and can charge those investments to the customer.  This makes them profitable and helps them attract investors.  But it builds us a grid built to meet peak demand.  As Richard Kaufman of NYSERDA often repeats – we have an expensive grid, which is only used to capacity half the time.  Rather than reward utilities to build more resilient, local and green sources of electricity our laws result in the opposite. You can follow Richard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RKauffmanEnergy.

Tony Earley, the Former CEO and Current Executive Chair of the Board, PG&E Corporation, one of the largest electric utilities in America, said loud and clear that reducing carbon and a healthy economy go hand in hand and that energy efficiency is vital to reaching Paris goals.  Tony reflected on what he has seen change since his early days running LILCo, the New York electric utility on Long Island,  which struggled to keep prices low with a petroleum-dependent utility.

He cited the importance of reducing demand as an effective strategy. In fact, years later, energy efficiency is how, in California,  PG&E and other utilities were able to keep the per person use of electricity flat for decades.  Not only has conservation kept demand under control but 70% of the electricity PG&E produces is greenhouse gas free, their 300,000 residential solar customers represent 25% of US residential solar customers and 20% of EVs are charged by PG&E at the equivalent of about $1/gallon!   “We don’t need a national policy, but it would sure help.”  

Heather Zichal, the Former Climate and Energy Advisor to President Obama, has who’s worked with Kerry, Earley, Moniz, and others to create that national policy many business leaders, Mayors, and communities support.

Zichal still fights Climate Change after working for Senator Kerry & President Obama.       https://www.facebook.com/heather.zichal

Zichal worked with Kerry in one capacity or another since 2002. She recounted how difficult it has become since the time when President Bush supported “Cap and Trade” to build another bipartisan effort.  Until a time when a similar coalition can be created Zichal said that Mayors could lead and bring projects and policies forward at the City level all across the country. Because, after all, Mayors know there is no such thing as Republican clean air or Democratic clean water. Much the same, named hurricanes and typhoons don’t have a (D) or an (R) after their name.

 

Mike Bloomberg was not there but it seems many including Zichal were channeling the theme of his recent book “Climate of Hope.” In his book co-authored by Sierra’s Carl Pope, Bloomberg asserts “America’s ability to meet our Paris climate pledge doesn’t depend on Washington.”  It will, most at this Climate Week event agreed, depend on Mayors, government officials, business leaders and each and every one of us.  We can fight climate change one person, one community, one business at a time.

Jeff Immelt said that support for carbon pricing is “fairly universal” among business leaders.  “It’s the best thing to do.  Not to pick winners and losers, but let the market work.” Unfortunately, he explained that with the chance of carbon pricing in the near future is so very low it is nothing the 300,000 GE employees can depend on.  “Everyday they go to work they need to know what they are going to do, what they are going to believe in.  Let’s get them to decrease the cost of wind, let’s get them to drive down the cost of solar to 3 cents a KWh, get electric storage costs down – that way they can survive no matter who’s president.”  

“GE has concluded that climate change is real and it is caused by man, so we launched “Ecomagination“ which has generated about $275 billion dollars of revenue. – Science has decided and that’s how we invest.”  I thought I was listening to a Mayor when he said “Everybody could be better, everybody could be cleaner. If you took the entire installed base of coal-fired power plants in China and made them 5% more efficient – it’s amazing what that does!’

Hank Paulson, Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Anne Finucane, Vice Chairman of Bank of America shared their collective wisdom on how to drive investment to sustainable projects and development. Paulson said “This is a global problem which makes it harder and scientists are conservative by nature, I think there are systemic risks, huge risks and they are increasing.  We may be stuck living in a much tougher world.”  

Even though we may have a while before carbon is priced properly we have a huge opportunity for green finance according to Paulson and Finucane.  But as Finucane cautioned “some investments will require patience.”  Kerry pushed the panel to discuss why financing can be so difficult especially in the developing countries, Finucane and Paulson both sited corruption, country risk and the lack of ‘off-take’ contracts. Immelt and Finucane both chided some investors for not having boots on the ground to assess true conditions where investment is being considered.  Paulson told the mostly business student audience – “The most important thing we can do is develop financing models that work, like the Chinese efforts of ‘One Belt, One Road.’  We need to push, push, push!”  

Leonardo DiCaprio capped off the two days when he spoke the day after the panels. He said he was terrified of the prospects and of the current administration’s view toward climate.  He has just finished filming a new documentary about methane called “A Big World Waits.”  He cited carbon’s impact on oceans where much of the man-made greenhouse gases are being absorbed saying that ocean chemistry and temperatures are changing and creating grave dangers.  

Humanity is at a turning point, he said, and as he travels the world he observed: “You can go anywhere else in the world there is no argument about mankind’s impact on the planet.”  He said arguing with Republicans here “it’s like arguing whether gravity exists or not.”

 

Climate Denial is like denying gravity

 

 

Bill Finch

 

Call to Action on Climate

Extreme weather is on everyone’s mind.  

 

Wildfires, today’s climate headline, are getting larger and more frequent.  Erratic precipitation and droughts,  cause wildfires that destroy thousands of homes and displace thousands of families.  Hurricanes kill people and their pets, destroy their homes and cost tens of billions of dollars.  Hot, windy or wet, extreme weather and climate change is on everyone’s mind.

The warming of the earth has lead to ever more severe storms like Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Even if you don’t believe the occurrence of multiple 100-year storms, within just a couple of years time, or even within a couple of months time, is proof of climate change, there are many other reasons to believe.  Even if you will always be a doubter, there are many outcomes of fighting climate change that everyone will like – jobs, safety, health, – so please read on.

As a former Mayor and Co-Chair of the US Conference of Mayors Energy Independence and Climate Task Force, I have seen first hand, along with hundreds of fellow mayors, the risk, and damages resulting from climate change.  I remember vividly, during Superstorm Sandy, watching the waters of the storm’s surge menacingly lap within a hairsbreadth of the doors to our electrical substations.  We held our breath while watching a similar ConEd substation in New York City explode.  I remember visiting my neighbors in an Olmsted designed village along the shore who lost all possessions and their electrical service as well.  I remember working with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to demolish and relocate hundreds of public housing units to higher ground and out of harm’s way.

 

Mayors, know that when the water has filled your basement and is lifting all your possessions to the second floor it’s no time for debate,  it’s time for action.  People trust Mayors to help them in times of need.  According to the pollster Frank Luntz, 72% of the public, regardless of party, have confidence in their local government, while only 40% have trust in their federal government.  Tom Friedman once told several hundred mayors gathered in Washington “I love Mayors because Mayors are too dumb to quit!”  We roared our approval because most Mayors are like a dog with a bone when something affects their city.

As far as Mayors are concerned the severe storms, rising water, high temperatures and droughts, invasive species and new diseases are all the proof they need to take action.  They are busy fighting climate change and its effects.  But to fight it in a smart way we need to know its causes and we look to science and the experts for information.

To all ye climate deniers, just put on those emerald glasses, let the rest of us go about reducing greenhouses gases – we promise we won’t hurt anybody.  Let the rest of us run with the ball.  We will pursue those efforts to reduce carbon which create jobs.  We will reign in the release of greenhouse gases like methane to increase profits and efficiency. We will reduce pollution to save money, improve public health and position our cities and our nation to be resilient and sustainable.  We will attract investors to expand our tax bases.  So why don’t you drop your esoteric quibble and join us in the important work of the day…of the ages.  You don’t want to cut your nose off to spite your face – you need that nose to prop up those emerald glasses!

My Dad, God rest his soul, WWII Navy Vet, member of the Greatest Generation, complete with a generational lexicon which included his favorite word – “irregardless.”  Double negative, I know, but in the case of climate, I use it to demonstrate a point.  Irregardless if climate change is being created by human activity, irregardless of all the politics: If, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases has terrific outcomes we can all agree on, then why the hell not just do them anyway?  We can agree on jobs, efficiency, profitability, and safety so let’s pursue them, together, “As If” we agree on the causes.  

If professional quarterbacks can throw the ball “as if “ he understands perfectly the aerodynamics and trajectory of the ball, I think all doubters can help expand our economy, keep people safe and improve our environment and “as if” they agreed with the cause.

Mayors can save money, improve the environment and public health, and fight climate change all at the same time.  Shift the municipal waste stream from refuse to recycling, digest municipal sewage into fuel, cover long-dormant brownfields with solar panels and fuel cells, repurpose abandoned factories into housing to create greater density and reduce sprawl, reduce stormwater runoff, shift street space away from cars to pedestrian and bicyclists and change public lighting on streets and buildings, these are all things Mayors can and are doing.  These are all things that create economic growth and jobs, expanded tax base, clean the air and earn a great reputation.  There are many, many more strategies to be developed, shared and put in action.

In his recent book “Climate of Hope” Mike Bloomberg asserts “America’s ability to meet our Paris climate pledge doesn’t depend on Washington.”  It will depend however on Mayors, government officials, business leaders and each and every one of us.  We can fight climate change one person, one community at a time.

Bill Finch

24 Hours of Reality

My blog will come out as scheduled this Wednesday but I am sending out a brief post to give you the link to Climate Reality’s broadcast.  I hope you tune in, it’s even better than my blog!!  Must be the lighting?

The host Johnathan just talked about “energy e-finch-acy.”  I am so grateful for the shout out!

http://bit.ly/2AwzRRc

#24hoursofreality

“No one will solve the climate crisis by staying quiet.  Be the voice of Reality.” Talk to you on Wednesday.

 

Bill Finch