The Log | School News

Update from the Nicholas Institute-- Moving Forward

D.C. Launch and State Efforts Mark Major Milestones in Nicholas Institute’s Goal to be ‘Go-to Place’ for the Environment

Less than two years after it was established, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions has passed major milestones in its goal to become the “go-to place”for environmental policy at both the national and local levels.

At the national level, nearly 500 decision makers from business, government, nonprofits and academia took part in events designed to launch the Nicholas Institute’s presence in Washington,D.C., last November.

The launch featured a VIP luncheon at which Sen. John McCain and other national leaders discussed prospects for new policies and legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions. It also featured workshops for Capitol Hill staffers on climate change and U.S. oceans policy.

“This was the first installment of an ongoing commitment by the Nicholas Institute to take a leadership role in spurring national discussions about environmental policies—especially how we address the serious need to reduce carbon emissions,”says Tim Profeta, Nicholas Institute director.

A full slate of events and initiatives is planned for 2007 to bring decision makers together to discuss environmental issues, Profeta says, and to provide them with policy analysis and framing that is timely, trustworthy and sharply focused.

For instance, following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 4th Assessment Report in February, the Nicholas Institute worked with congressional offices to bring Gabriele Hegerl, a Nicholas School faculty member who was one of the chief authors of the IPCC report, to Washington to provide expert testimony on the report to lawmakers.

“Bringing experts to D.C. to address timely issues such as the IPCC report is one way we are demonstrating to leaders that the Nicholas Institute is a useful partner,” Profeta says.

At the November launch, McCain (R-Ariz.), a 2008 presidential candidate, affirmed his strong commitment to U.S. actions on carbon emissions and said he planned to reintroduce the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. When asked, he predicted that if Congress passes legislation in the next two years to enact a mandatory carbon emissions reduction program, President Bush would sign it.

McCain was joined in his discussion by industry executive Jeffry Sterba, chairman and CEO of PNM Resources and incoming chair of the Edison Electric Institute, a major trade association.

Sterba told the luncheon audience of about 400 that as an electric utility executive he thought it was “important to get started now” with a federal commitment to reduce emissions. His comments were based on a Duke University faculty analysis, conducted for members of industry at the Institute’s request.The analysis examined what types of emissions reduction scenarios could help stabilize the climate. Sterba’s comments foreshadowed later deliberations by the Edison Electric Institute to recommend some action toward reducing carbon emissions nationally.

Following McCain and Sterba’s discussion, U.S. Representative Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and William K. Reilly,president and CEO of Aqua International Partners and former EPA administrator, discussed prospects for climate legislation in the newly Democratic House of Representatives.

D.C. launch videos are online at www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/dclaunchvids.html.

An Increased Local Presence, Too

On the state level, the institute has named Bill Holman, former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and executive director of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, as a visiting senior fellow for in-state environmental outreach.

Holman is working with the institute’s staff to identify new avenues for applying its expertise, and the broad academic resources of the Nicholas School, Duke University and other universities, to North Carolina environmental issues.He is exploring opportunities for creating a new, self-supporting center to unite this multi-institutional expertise and make it readily available to decision makers statewide.

“Bill’s unparalleled depth of expertise on North Carolina environmental policy ideally suits him to lead this initiative,”says Profeta.

“For more than 20 years, Bill has worked with legislators, journalists, advocacy organizations, scientists and landowners to develop and promote economically and environmentally sound solutions to the state’s most pressing ecological challenges,”Profeta says.“He is unquestionably one of the Southeast’s most respected and effective environmental advocates.”

Holman believes the biggest environmental problem facing North Carolina is climate change.

“Global warming and all its associated impacts, like sea-level rise, present a serious challenge, but I believe there are things we can do to mitigate it,” Holman says. “A lot of energypolicy decisions are actually made at the state level.The Utilities Commission and the Environmental Management Commission have quite a bit to say about power plant emissions and vehicle emissions.There are going to be economic winners and losers in this, and states that make changes early and invest in cleaner technologies are going to be the winners.The Nicholas Institute can definitely play a role in this.”

Holman also believes the institute can help the state’s decision makers find ways to protect the state’s water resources, which are threatened by rapid growth and development.

In March, the institute hosted a statewide conference,“The Future of Water in N.C.: Strategies for Sustaining Abundant and Clean Water,” to address water conservation challenges facing governments, industry and communities.

“Water quantity and quality is a big issue for the future.Our water laws are designed for the last century and are not up to the coming competition for water resources among regions,”Holman says. Luckily, he says, the state’s leaders are actively working to find new and better ways to preserve its water resources, making it a possible candidate to become a model for other states to follow.“This is definitely an area where the Nicholas Institute can bring its expertise to bear for the public good,” he says.

Prior to joining the institute staff in December 2006,Holman served for more than five years as executive director of the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund.Before that, he was secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and National Resources and assistant secretary for environmental protection, and a lobbyist to the North Carolina General Assembly for numerous environmental nonprofits and advocacy organizations.

He is credited with helping to pass the Clean Water Responsibility Act of 1997, the Brownfields Cleanup Act of 1997, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund Act of 1996, the Watershed Protection Act of 1989 and numerous other environmental bills.

“Throughout my career, I have had the fortune to collaborate with some of the state’s most visionary leaders and boards, its brightest scientists and most committed conservationists,” Holman says.“Through my work at the Nicholas Institute, I hope to continue and deepen these collaborations.”

The Nicholas Institute was established in 2005 to bridge the gap between academic research and active policymaking.The Institute’s four initial areas of concentration are climate change and the economics of limiting carbon pollutions; oceans governance and coastal development; freshwater concerns; and emerging environmental markets.

Tim Lucas, Nicholas School and Nicholas Institute
photos by Judy Rolfe