Fate of the World: A Climate Change Quest

[Event roll: Congress: 90]

Congress has seen better days. Right now, it's seeing an imploding scandal. The Department of Justice announced charges against the Republican speaker of the House, and in rather predictable consequence the Republican Party has risen up harder than some people wish the South would. You know as well as anyone else in the administration that Gore initially wanted to keep things quiet for now to avoid this, to avoid the accusation of wielding the Justice Department as a weapon – but some things aren't to be left unpunished.
Child molestation. You swallow again, thinking about the uproar in Congress and the chaos on the Hill that followed that particular revelation.

Upstanding Speaker of the House, accused of child molestation. Dennis Hastert, former teacher, being dragged into court.

Oh, the networks are screaming about it. They're talking about how this is the start of a Communist agenda and a Democratic Party coup. Fox News, the radio shock jocks, all of them. But with something this bad, most of the nation is just asking itself questions.
After all, this wasn't some random Congressman. This is the Speaker. Third in line for the Presidency.

You pour out another dram of bourbon. The Director's office in theory isn't a drinking hole, but you've been in Congress since the 70s and you know as well as anyone that the capital is full of alcoholics. Especially in the executive branch.

And now? You think you need the bourbon. Most of it's satisfaction – Hastert was a bastard in the Gingrich mold, someone who didn't give a shit about national unity and played party games on C-SPAN. Sure, you can feel good about that.

But the rest of it? Bringing this out now, in the first seven months of his term, Gore looks like he's weaponizing the Department of Justice. Even if that isn't the case. And apart from that – U.S. Speaker of the House, pulled up for child molestation. Internationally, domestically...that doesn't in any way look good.
Jesus Christ.

You need another drink.

You have a Budget of 100. You have a minimum of three dice per category. You need not use all dice. You will gain between 5 and 10 federal influence for completed Superfund cleanup stages.

Your Mandate status is as follows:

Green Energy:
-Solar: Satisfied: There is negligible installed solar capacity and nobody cares. Research is progressing mainly in the Southwest and California.
-Wind: Satisfied: There is negligible installed wind capacity and nobody cares. Research is moving ahead in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest, albeit running into local opposition on the grounds of unsightly windmills lowering property values.
-Biofuels: Large Deficit, Trending Upward: Corn to ethanol is the pipeline that people want, and it makes them feel better imagining it's green. You've set up the chain for subsidy disbursal at the federal level and have the protocols set up, now you just need to get things rolling regionally – and then start to get the gas station ethanol chain set up. At least with the biofuel act past Congress this'll be cheaper.
-Hydro: Not your department, but the DoE's and the Army Corps of Engineers'. That said, some of the dams need maintenance and updates. You can handle that, at least tangentially. If you can convince them.
Privatization Status: Near Total: There is very little of this that is directly government controlled, barring the subsidies doled out by federal funding. At present, the corporate stakeholders are somewhat happy – but probably need an audit.
-Overall: Large deficit: Not all of the requirement can come from biofuels, thankfully. You can do at least some direct good here.

Superfund Sites: Cleaned 0/5: Partially Cleaned: 1/5

Public Opinion Is:
-Climate Change: Doubtful: A lot of people are willing to think that the climate might be changing, but surely humanity isn't the one doing it? We have a bare majority of America firmly onside, and most of that bare majority doesn't turn out to vote very much.
-Fossil Fuels: Divided: Some of the U.S. - a minority – want to slash fossil fuel emissions. The rest of the states are apathetic save for those like Texas, Louisiana and Alaska. There? Drill, baby, drill.
-The EPA: Ambivalent: Most of America thinks that Reagan's measures were good – that is, what use environmental protection if that leads to poverty? We need growth first, says America. As long as the EPA follows the earlier line, most of America is tepidly willing to let it exist.

Congressional Opinion Is:
-Republican: Uncertain/Divided: You're the EPA Director for a Democratic administration. You're the enemy, at least formally speaking. However – the Republicans in Congress are at present divided thanks to the Hastert Affair. Concerted legislative opposition to a federal department is not as bad as it used to be – they're busy tangling with the three-hundred-pound gorilla that is the Department of Justice.
-Democratic: Tepidly Supportive: As long as you don't undermine the Reagan – or rather, the Clinton – consensus on climate policy, they're backing you. They can support Gore's plans for now, they understand the value of pork in elections.

Administration Opinion Is: Apathetic: Your budget isn't worth fighting over, not even with the national labs rolled into it. There are other more important PR matters to worry about – and the sharks in the Administration scent Republican blood in the water. Of course, now that you're doing publicizable cleanup work they're willing to let you have more freedom and more hires to get things done in the decontamination backlog.

---

Cleanup Actions: Five dice total, Three base plus two from the Superfund mandate now unlocked by progress on the Portland site.

[]Mobil Chemical/NJ Zinc Superfund Site: Stage I (0/100): Mineral Point Zinc Company originally developed the site in 1905 as a primary zinc smelter. In addition, the site has at various times been the location of sulfuric acid manufacturing, paint pigment production, ammonium phosphate fertilizer manufacturing, refining and recovery of secondary metals from zinc ore (e.g., cadmium), secondary zinc smelting and zinc dust production. Between 1905 and 1989, portions of the site were owned and operated by New Jersey Zinc Company, Mobil Oil Corporation, Gulf & Western Industries, Horsehead Industries, and the Zinc Corporation of America. In 1990, the facility ceased operation. Through various corporate mergers, acquisitions and the bankruptcy of Horsehead, responsibility for the site has fallen to Viacom International Incorporated/CBS and the ExxonMobil Corporation. These two companies have formed an entity known as "The DePue Group," which collectively represents the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) for the site. In 1995, the DePue Group entered into an interim consent order with Illinois EPA and the Illinois Attorney General's Office (IAGO) for investigation of the site and evaluation of possible remedial actions. This is a major Superfund site in Illinois, with contamination from zinc smelter slag, paint plant waste, phosphogypsum contamination, metal discharge to groundwater, elevated heavy metal concentrations, etc.
Stage I: Progress 0/100: Building a work plan, soil sampling, remedial investigations for Lake DePue, hydrogeologic investigation. Costs 10 Budget per die.

[]Portland Harbor Superfund Site: Stage II (112/200): The initial stage of baseline sampling has been completed for the Superfund site on the Willamette, and stakeholder working parties have already been formed for a few of the zones of interest. With the other corporate and local stakeholders moving slowly and citing costs, a further infusion of cash and federal personnel is probably needed to get people like DuPont and the City of Oregon on board. Costs 5 Budget per die. Forms working parties with local stakeholders, sets up public-feedback system, begins remediation design.

[]Continuing Hanford: Urgently Stabilizing Nuclear Waste: 0/200: This is the last of the major Superfund sites requiring additional funding allocation, as the other minor sites are proceeding as per the plans of the previous administration. The Hanford site – originally added in the 1980s - is riddled with nuclear waste, heavy metal contamination and the detritus of a major U.S. nuclear enrichment facility that had the waste disposal standards of the 1940s. There are two hundred million liters of high level radioactive waste in underground tanks that need stabilization work at least begun immediately, and continuing decon work on top of that to avoid groundwater and riverine contamination. 10 Budget per die.

[]Minor Site Decon: There are dozens of minor Superfund sites not half the size of the big three above, and all of them need more money. Accelerating their cleanup allows the new administration to claim an effective environmental policy, and most Americans are in favor of cleanup anyways. 5 Budget per die. Pick one zone to focus on below:

-[]Deep South: Stage I 0/200: Riddled with decades of lax environmental policy and governance, the sites in the South have yet to be cleaned and are underfunded to boot. This will take time and effort, especially with Gore's mandate for using local labor and contractors.

-[]Rust Belt: Stage I 52/100: Minor sites in the Midwest are mostly stable but need decon work, and we can attend to the most urgent ones first. Thankfully. There are too damn many waste dumping sites in America's industrial heartland.

-[-]West: California and the Pacific Coast have enough money and you have cash already allocated there. No need for more, not in this political environment.

-[]Northeast/Mid-Atlantic: Stage I 0/100: Primarily focusing on old mining, chemical and steel zones that are long since closed and have long since allowed their runoff to contaminate local groundwater reserves, this is a long, long task.

-[]Southwest: Stage I 0/300: Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and other states dependent on resource extraction have had a toxic legacy left to the current generation. Again, in the face of an uncooperative local government and a toothless state EPA you have a long road ahead.

-[]Midwest/Rockies: Stage I 0/300: This encompasses everything from Montana to Colorado and the Corn Belt since there's so few people there and so little state environmental funding. Again, a long task from the sheer number of pesticide, mining, chemical, arms and nuclear facilities here. Not to mention the closed military bases.

---

PR Actions: Three dice total.

[]Publicize Your Work: Use some cash to tap into ad agencies and the like, to make sure the public knows what your agency is up to and what you've done for the nation. Of course, this makes failure more humiliating but can magnify success. Costs one die and 10 budget, increases PR value of a success/completion and costs opinion in the event of failure events or if no option is completed this turn.

[]Expand the Environmental Education Arm: Overhauling Management 0/50: While on paper the EE arm is something that does not teach facts that 'bias the opinion of those in education', in practice most grants tend to be applied for by those who aren't climate deniers. Thankfully. Since this program has been shielded by a federal mandate since 1990, nobody can object if you start overhauling its management and expanding its budget to allow for a more effective education arm that hits more of rural America. And also speaks more to the religious in America, considering that a worrying number of them are more and more outspoken in their opposition to environmental regulation. 5 Budget per die. Current stage: Overhauling management and expanding it.

[][Congressional Proposal] EPA Scholarships: Some of the EPA's work funding students who apply for grants can be turned to scholarships, or so goes one proposal. While this will draw ire in Congress, it'll also mean that the intensely competitive American college application system can be made to work for you – you pay for one student full-ride, and another thousand will do the legwork of learning while applying for the same scholarship. Requires one die, cannot allocate more than one, DC20 to pass, costs 10 federal influence, costs 20 Budget. Large impact on PR.

[]Awareness Campaign: Biofuel Farm Subsidies (0/50): Begin a campaign of ads and public-information statements to ensure that farmers and small processors are aware of the EPA's new biofuel subsidy program. Setting up 'tutorial schemes' to assist them in filling out paperwork is also recommended, since most of America takes personal offense to the existence of federal paperwork. 5 Budget per die.

---

Energy/Environmental Policy: You have two additional dice in this category, totaling five dice before dice buys.

[]Biofuel Subsidy Network: Stage II: 55/250: With the Gore Administration deciding to ramp up subsidies for first-generation biofuels, that leaves you to set up the infrastructure to dole out the grants. That means collaborating – now that the federal stage is done – collaboration with the Department of Agriculture to set up a unified subsidy system and let the lobbyists make sure that gets written into law so that DoA can't pressure you later…5 Budget per die, opinion boost among food processors. Bonus federal influence on completion.

[]First-Gen Biofuelling: Stage I: 0/100: You have to set up the start of the refining and fueling chain for vehicles that use first-gen biofuels, and that takes time. As well as cooperation with the oil majors that supply the vast network of gas stations in America – without their assent it'll be hard to get this off the ground. 5 Budget per die. This is needed to set up the biofuel market and avoid overcapacity from the subsidies. Highly advised it be done. Bonus federal influence on completion. Oil corporation cooperation required for Stage I to be active. Stage II required for some degree of independence.

[]Biofuel Footprint Sourcing: 0/150: To show that the energy policy of the Administration isn't just for energy independence but also to be 'green', we'll need to assess the carbon footprint of the biofuels used and show that they hit the targets required. Conventional renewable fuels (corn starch ethanol) are required to reduce life-cycle emissions relative to life-cycle emissions from fossil fuels by at least 20 percent, biodiesel and advanced biofuels must reduce GHG emissions by 50 percent. Costs 5 Budget per die. Unglamorous. Needed for emissions control.

[-]Grid Overhauls: Stage II (Design): 0/300: The US power grid is a patchwork, and underfunded to boot. While the Department of Energy has the nominal responsibility to maintain it and modernize it in cooperation with private entities, the EPA has the responsibility to ensure the grid is 'green' in some sense. Given that we've been warned off for now by DoE, that means staying well away until whatever they're cooking up in California gets done. Costs 10 Budget per die, cooperates with Department of Energy. Grid modernizations require a supportive Administration. Further actions down this path require federal influence. Locked.

---

R&D Actions: You have two additional dice here from the earlier choices in chargen. Total 5 dice before buys.

[]Second Generation Biofuels: 0/300: Generating biofuels from cellulose rather than starchy substances like cornstarch and sorghum can allow mass biofuel production without much impact on the food supply. Making this piece of intellectual property quite useful for those outside America and its mass corn overproduction. Costs 5 Budget per die.

[]Carbon Footprint Mapping: Stage I (0/150): Given that carbon footprints are at present based on things like emissions values stated by manufacturers and don't really look into supply chains – not to mention leaving Big Ag alone – it might be a good idea to fund the research teams that propose to set up a framework for emissions footprint mapping. That also means setting up a computer system that can easily add emissions footprints, and that means time and money. Costs 5 Budget per die. Begins emissions footprint map project.

[]Improved PV: 0/300: Solar at present is expensive and fragile, and more ruggedization and research is needed before even mass production can take the prices lower. That means investment, sadly – although you can funnel this through the labs owned by the EPA at least. Improves solar efficiency somewhat, 5 Budget per die.

---

Administration Actions: You have three dice, each die allocated once per action. Some actions can be taken multiple times.

[]Request More Staff: Spend some of your cash to get more contract staff for a particular task, boosting its performance somewhat. One more die in a particular category, costs five budget to convert over and above cost of allocating that die.

[]Schmoozing: You can always try to play Washington politics to some extent, although bear in mind that a screwup can hurt more than a success will help. DC variable, each sub-action can be taken once. Free actions. Bonus from chosen background.
-[]The Administration: You serve at Gore's pleasure. Remember that.
-[]Congress: Congress is a den of scum and villainy, but it is occasionally useful.
-[]Public Figures: Targets talk shows, interviews and the like to sway public figures and thereby sway the public. Low returns, low risk.
-[]Major Corporations: See about talking to 'corporate stakeholders' and what they might want for cooperation. Some of them can be convinced.
--[]Write In Target (Optional)

[]Outreach: See if you can secure backing from another department for a project, or at least see what some of the other bits of the Administration want from you. Scratch their backs and they might offer something in return. Variable DC, no failure. This can unlock new projects, allowing your relatively limited department to punch above its jurisdiction.
-[]DoD
-[]DoE
-[]Interior
-[]Health and Human Services
-[]State
-[]Education

AN: Winning votes were: Setting up local stakeholder working parties, and the DoA system.