Farewell...there's no place like home

It is finally time to say goodbye to the Land of Oz. I'm getting ready for the 32 hour trip back to Little Rock in the morning. I leave at 10:00 AM and arrive home at 6:00 PM on Friday evening. I’m leaving with mixed emotions. As exciting as it will be to be back home, but I will certainly miss this place and all the friends I’ve made. It is difficult to put into words everything that I have gained during this extraordinary experience. While here this project has taken me over 11,000 miles to Sydney four times, Brisbane twice, Canberra and Cairns. (Yes I am aware of the irony.) I don't know where to begin, but here is a very brief sample of my time in Australia:

I had the opportunity to sit in on a range of meetings with various stakeholders and these are just a few:

• Goldman Sachs
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• Toyota
• Representatives and staff of the New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland State Parliament
• Representatives of National Parliament in Canberra
• Westfield Group
• Citibank
• the Chairman of CCI, Ira Magaziner
  

On the non-work side of the trip I was able to take advantage of many opportunities that I will never forget.

• Held a kooala bear
• Fed a kangaroo
• Saw hump back whales up close and personal
• Watched my first opera in the most famous opera house in the world
• Snorkeled with a sea turtle at the Great Barrier Reef
• Walked in a rainforest

I want to thank all the faculty, staff and donors of the Clinton School of Public Service for making it possible for me to take part in this amazing experience. I must also thank my parents for all the love and support that they have given me now and over the years which ultimately allowed me to be in the position to take advantage of the opportunity to attend the Clinton School.

Unfortunately I will be arriving home in the midst of the heartbreaking loss of the DPA Chairman Bill Gwatney. I admired his quick wit, distinct command of knowledge and the leadership he provided for the Democrats of Arkansas. It was a big loss for everyone. I am sad for the loss and that some of my friends had to witness such a cruel act, but I am grateful that they are safe. I look forward to seeing them soon.

So long Australia. Thanks for the memories! I will be back.

Bogus campaigning

Everyone knows that Senator McCain has been traveling the country ranting about how "We should drill here! Drill now!" as if it would have any effect on energy prices now. He is condemning Democrats for "not doing anything about this energy" crisis.

Yet he has missed the last eight votes that would have extended the investment tax credits for installing solar energy and the production tax credits for building wind turbines and other energy-efficiency systems. Actions that would have an immediate effect on prices. Read about it here.

In fairness, Senator Obama apparently missed the last vote as well, but voted in favor of extending the credits on the previous occasions. He still should have voted this last time though.

You see ads that highlight what the candidates will do or hope to do with renewable, secure energy, yet they don't take advantage of the opportunities they have.

I don't understand why our representatives are allowed to miss votes period. That is their job. With the technology that is available today, there is no reason in the world why a Senator or Congressman should not cast a vote on legislation that reaches the floor.

Wasting away again

I noticed on the Arkansas Times Blog today, that Waste Management and the Audubon Society announced a partnership to establish the first waste to energy plant in Arkansas. I think this is great and a necessary step.

Another great option, and perhaps a more efficient system considering the amount of electricity produced, is a system like Global Renewables which operates outside of Sydney. Waste Management might already incorporate some of these techniques and I don't mean to take away from this great partnership. It is good to see these two groups cooperating with one another. I just want to keep looking forward at all options available.

All waste is delivered to the site where it is separated and recyclable matter is separated from the organic matter that is used to supply electricity for the plant. The leftover waste is used as an organic fertilizer. About 75 percent of waste is diverted from the landfill. There flow chart below shows the process.

Footy

I finally made it to an Australian Rules Football game, also known as Footy. I thought it was a lot of fun, but I would have to say that I’m still a bigger fan of Rugby. Footy is a game played between two teams of 18 players, usually played on cricket ovals during the winter months. At either end of the oval four posts are erected. The aim for each team is to kick the ball between the either the two inner posts of one set (for a goal, worth six points) or the between an outer and inner post (for a behind, worth just one point). The game is played with a bouncy oval ball which may be caught, kicked, dribbled on the bounce (like a basketball) or passed to another player by punching. A player who cleanly catches a kicked ball (called a mark) that has travelled more than 10 meters is entitled to an unimpeded kick of the ball, to advance his team towards the goal post. You can pass or kick it in any direction and looks similar to a game we played in the offseason in high school called “grabace” or grab ass.

The playing field is enormous, approximately 190 yards by 150. That is a lot of running. An interesting technique is used when passing the ball. Often a player will hold the ball in one hand and punch it with the other. If you watch the Men at Work, Land Down Under video you will notice that the big guy in the second chorus uses this technique to deliver the vegemite sandwich.

I watched the Collingwood Magpies versus the St. Kilda Saints. The Magpies prevailed. It was a close game and just as much trash talking that you would hear at a Razorback game. The most interesting part is that there are so many of these teams in close proximity to each other. AFL was primarily popular here in the State of Victoria so the majority of teams are in Melbourne and close by. It has grown into a more national game in the last twenty years. It’s like if Hillcrest, the Heights, the Quapaw Quarter and West Little Rock all had their own professional teams.

I also threw in a few pictures I took while I took one last stroll through the City. I’ll be in Brisbane and Canberra until I leave Friday.

U.S. Public Service Academy

One of my buddies from school is going to Washington, D.C. this fall to help set up a school for public service similar to the military academies that exist. He wanted us to spread the word so here is the website below. Sounds like an exciting concept and Jay should be a great fit for this role. It can't be cooler than the Clinton School can it?

http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/

Sackin' Arkansas' Grocery Tax

As many of you know, in 2007, Governor Beebe followed through on his campaign promise to responsibly phase out what is considered one of the most regressive taxes in the country. While only half of the tax was suspended, the $121 million cut amounted to the largest tax cut in the history of Arkansas. It is everyone’s hope that the Governor’s Office will be able to finish it off in the next legislative session this spring.

Even though Arkansas’ economy has been bucking the trends of the “slow down” the rest of the country faces, the people who prepare the state’s budget will no doubt be cautious as they make decisions in the next six months. There might just be a solution that helps eliminate that tax and can clean up the environment that just happens to start at the grocery store:

I propose that the State of Arkansas place a ban on the use of plastic bags in grocery and retail stores that will would go into effect at the end of 2010 or 2011. Until that time, a $.25 tax, or whatever price makes sense, will be charged to the customer for each plastic bag used. This will drive the demand for people to begin using reusable canvas and cloth bags, while simultaneously raising money to help displace money lost for the grocery tax. While this money would end when the ban goes into effect, it gives the state flexibility in replacing lost income from the tax, while giving the industry time to adjust to business without plastic.

Some will say that this is a burden on the poorest Arkansans, but unlike the Grocery Tax, this would be a tax people choose to pay, and with reusable bags available at Wal-Mart, Kroger and many other stores around the state for only $1, I certainly don’t see that as a great burden.

Others will say that many stores offer recycling of plastic bags on site. They are right and those stores should certainly be applauded, but only about one percent of bags end up getting recycled.

People will argue about implementation, but other places are doing it. China is doing it. California is going to do it. Because of a tax Ireland put in place, plastic bag use has been cut by 90 percent. I happen to know that there are some bright people that are currently working for the state. Surely we can all come together and put something together than works.

On the fluffy environmental geek feel good side, there are a whole host of reasons to utilize reusable bags. The Sierra Club says:

Reusing a bag meant for just one use has a big impact. A sturdy, reusable bag needs only be used 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags.

In New York City alone, one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waste by 109 tons and save $11,000 in disposal costs.

Plastic bags carry 80% of the nation's groceries, up from 5% in 1982.

When 1 ton of paper bags is reused or recycled, 3 cubic meters of landfill
space is saved and 13 - 17 trees are spared! In 1997, 955,000 tons of paper bags
were used in the United States.

When 1 ton of plastic bags is reused or recycled, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil are saved..

Oil consumption, environmental and disposal costs all need to be factored in to the definition of “cost.” However, this is a great example of how a sound environmental policy has broad implications and makes great economic sense right now, without even taking these things into consideration.

Final Stretch

As of today I have nine days left here in Australia. I've finished my main research component identifying barriers, issues and stakeholders who would needed to be involved to implement combined heat and power infrastructure here in Melbourne and Sydney, but suspect some tweaking might be needed. However, I suspect that some tweaking might done before I leave.

It is literally a mad dash to the very end. Tomorrow we fly out to Sydney for two days of meetings and get back just in time to greet CCI's Chairman, Ira Magaziner, back here Thursday night. He will be here until the day I leave and there are a whole host of meetings lined up for here, Brisbane and Canberra until then.

I'm going to try to get out this weekend and take one last walk around and try to soak it up. Right now I'm going to try to make one of the Australian Rules Football games and I believe I'm visiting the local casino with my roommates Saturday night.