Votes are called.
I need a nominee for Gore's SecState and Education because I'm unfamiliar with possible nominees.
In exchange, here's one roll that went well although the others didn't do quite as well.
Education: 90
State: 95
As part of a concerted push in the U.S. for energy independence by oil-state Congressmen, hawks and environmentalists, the State Department wants the EPA onside for the use of 'environmental regulation compliance' and 'clean oil extraction' as a means of soft-power pressure similar to the establishment of liberal democracy. The use of calls for green energy allows Gore to pressure the Arab world and in particular the Saudis in a way that satisfies a Republican Congress that chafes just a little at its leadership's ties to the Saudi state. The oil majors are split between companies like ConocoPhillips who do most of their extraction at home, BP which has deep wells in the North Sea, and Exxon with its close ties to the Saudi dynasty.
Education in the meantime has taken account of Texas state legislation to teach the importance of domestic energy in schools, the expansion of the Enviro Education program and the Congressional push towards energy independence by expanded gas extraction, and wants a slice. Cooperation with the EPA on grants for student projects involving alternative energy is one such avenue.
Scheduled vote count started by mouli on Jan 30, 2021 at 2:21 PM, finished with 43 posts and 15 votes.
The oil majors are split between companies like ConocoPhillips who do most of their extraction at home, BP which has deep wells in the North Sea, and Exxon with its close ties to the Saudi dynasty.
Education Secretary. If you've heard Gore on the campaign stump or during the debates tout the education reform achievements of North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., you have a good idea who the Vice President's Cabinet pick might be. Hunt's term is up in 2001, and he's considered a good, safe choice to champion Gore's modest education agenda. Hunt was a co-vice chair of the 1999 National Education Summit (started, by the way, in 1989 by President Bush), which is sponsored by governors and business interests. Other names being floated: Delaware Gov. Thomas R. Carper, who is running for the Senate against William V. Roth Jr., R-Del.; and Bruce N. Reed, who has worked for either Clinton or Gore in some capacity for about a dozen years. Reed, a centrist New Democrat, spent four years as an aide to Gore, including a stint as his chief speechwriter during Gore's unsuccessful 1988 bid for the White House. Reed would be happy to remain in a Democratic Administration, and his name pops up as a candidate for a host of jobs.
For Secretary of State:
Secretary of State. The conventional wisdom is that brash, sometimes abrasive Richard C. Holbrooke might at long last get the prize he has so coveted through his years as foreign service officer, State Department assistant, assistant secretary of State, managing director of Lehman Brothers, U.S. ambassador to Germany, Clinton's chief negotiator for the Dayton Peace Accords, vice chair of Credit Suisse First Boston, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If, however, Gore believes Holbrooke is not the right fit for his foreign policy team, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who in 1998 brokered the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland as Clinton's envoy, has many boosters. Sources suggest that Mitchell, who is currently a Washington lobbyist and consultant, might be open to such an overture. Also receptive to wooing, sources suggest, is former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee and served in the Senate from 1972-96. He now serves on a handful of corporate boards, is chairman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and is also a senior partner in the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding.
Just came to post that link - it's contemporaneous, which is nice.
I don't think Ed would be Bruce Reed. The names that came up for State are Holbrooke or George Mitchell... and also Sam Nunn, which might explain why we got that 95 in State outreach - he was the other Democratic Senator from Georgia, I assume.
[]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.
This is intended to advise the Director on the new provisions for site security and contracting procedure under the US PATRIOT Act passed in the wake of recent events. The US PATRIOT Act has stipulated a procedure for financial disclosure, background checks and employee clearance as well as federal site security. This has had substantial impact on EPA contracting procedure due to increased scrutiny required for local labor contracting as well as increased oversight at the federal level for funding disbursement. Along with that, the US PATRIOT Act places an emphasis on site security in order to ensure national security and prevent terror attacks on federal facilities, requiring the EPA to submit Site Security Assessments annually for ongoing work at Superfund sites and EPA regional offices. The reports can be provided in conjunction with local law enforcement partners and federal law enforcement, but require a new bureaucratic command chain…
"So you tell me, Howard, what does this mean? What the hell does the bill mean when it talks about EPA provision of rapid response units for environmental crimes assessment?"
"Well, Director, they want some sort of turnkey expertise. One of the scenarios gamed out by the Pentagon was contamination and intentional poisoning or degradation of infrastructure."
"The Pentagon thinks that Al-Qaeda is poisoning our bodily fluids. Like that movie, the one with Slim Pickens."
"I can't say, sir."
"Call me Jake. Or Director. I'm not a sir. Anyways – turnkey?"
"Experts. Money. Labs."
"Fair enough. We can do that. We'll get funding for it?"
"So they say."
-Conversation between Director Jake Harper and Chief Counsel Ayanna Howard, EPA
Notice to the Director
Portland Superfund Site Assessment
This is a notice of briefing for Director Harper on the delays in progress for the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. Recent news has focused on the EPA budgeting ninety million dollars for site clearance in a single Superfund zone, with no progress made and $80m spent on what the public appears to consider as fripperies. The public relations arm of the Agency present this report as a briefing on a damage control and dialogue strategy to minimize the long term harm to the Agency from this perceived scandal. The scandal – the reporting on the scandal – neglects to state that the $80m earmarked for Terminal 4 initial decontamination for October was diverted to security assessment and pay for local law enforcement partners in order to ensure EPA compliance with the US PATRIOT Act…
There has been a scandal due to the news pouncing on a combination of low progress and spending on non-cleanup items mandated by the PATRIOT Act. You will now have security actions. You now have a larger budget.
[]Blame the PATRIOT Act: A conventional approach that blames the PATRIOT Act and the tightening of national security. This might or might not salve things, but will almost certainly require you to make visible movements towards tightening said security.
[]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
[]Blame the Contractors: Local labor fucked up. You found twelve, count'em, twelve meth addicts and former felons on a government worksite. Blame that. It'll anger the Oregonians but satisfy everyone else – especially rural media that considers Portland borderline alien as it is.
[]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.
Rolled: mouli: 3D100 → 151( (71 +60 +20) )
Now 151/200
Hanford was the premier nuclear enrichment site for the United States since the Second World War – it was here that the uranium for the bombs dropped on Japan was enriched. It's a massive place with the nuclear waste buried under the riverbed in what used to be sealed canisters certified by the Army Corps of Engineers. The soil around Hanford is contaminated with heavy metals and poisonous, the trees around the site bearing fruit that eventually kills, as if in some sort of long-term vengeance for the Cold War's toll on nature. Hanford was first listed as a Superfund site in the 1980s, and since then the work has proceeded in cycles of decontamination, redesign, containment, and waste stabilization.
With the cancellation or indefinite delay of Yucca Mountain, the Department of Energy has instead recommended the stabilization in place of the Hanford nuclear waste deposits. Work has begun with the resealing of faulty canisters, the assessment of the stored waste, and work continues on the stabilization of the remainder. With the cooperation of the Washington DEQ and the EPA region for Pacific Northwest, we anticipate work to be on schedule. For a schedule of decades for full remediation.
"The EPA has confirmed that the Hanford nuclear site has been stabilized and that there is 'no danger at all' of waste leakage. Footage from EPA observation teams shows a thorough sealing of any possible leak, and we can all sit in relief at radiation not being a concern anymore…"
-From the Seattle Times, October 2001
"Who cares about Washington? Apart from those nuts in Eastern Washington?"
"Well, we thought-"
"We focus on natsec. We want to show Gore's weakness on 9/11. We don't need to hit the EPA right now. They didn't fuck up with nuclear waste, so there's no story big enough."
-Conversation in Fox News studios, November 2001
-[]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.
Rolled: mouli: 1D100 → 5( (5) )
Now 57/100
See PR options above
"Governor Engler confirms that the EPA has tightened security around work sites, due to the need to comply with the US PATRIOT Act and avoid potential strikes on our environment using the dangerous chemicals in Superfund sites. This has resulted in delays in work at the Superfund cleanup sites…"
-CNN, November 2001
"Attacks using dangerous chemicals? What is this, Wile E. Coyote?"
"He's a politician, Dr. Staines."
"I can damn well see that, he isn't smart enough to earn a living at least."
-Conversation in Idaho National Labs, November 2001
Delays have cascaded across the Rust Belt due to the newly established security and background checking wing of the EPA prioritizing the nuclear cleanup at Hanford above the minor sites in the Rust Belt. While this means no screwups in nuclear waste cleanup, it means that the most progress that's made in the sites across the Rust Belt is the fine-tuning of remediation designs instead of any actual cleanup progress. On the other hand, we've managed to establish liaison ties with state and local police departments for site security, and in the case of the more dangerous areas we have also consulted with the regional FBI field offices. PATRIOT Act compliance is in full swing…
PR Actions
[]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.
43/50, overflow rolls over to Stage II: Expansion to rural America
The Environmental Education arm of the EPA is one that's not supposed to teach facts that might bias one's opinion against theories that should be 'given equal weight', mostly because the EE arm was set up in the Reaganite era and has to cater to the Bible Belt. It's also one that historically has had trouble reaching rural Americans due to the differing syllabi in rural school districts, and due to management issues has had problems with grant distribution in areas that aren't able to write a good grant application – such as inner city schools. The expanded EE arm is able to ensure grant funding and supplemental payments for teachers in a wider range of environments, and is also tailored to teach rural students in a non-partisan manner that should allow some amount of penetration into rural areas. Once the regional machinery is set up.
[][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. mouli: 1D100 → 98( (98) )
Result: Large uptake due to rising costs of college, EPA Fellowships endowed at major universities to last without further federal influence or spending. EPA internship program established at Idaho National Labs. Student interest quite large.
Synergy: Education and State outreach, 9/11: Thinktank outreach for a fellowship program. Interlude unlocked.
Continued in Interlude: Environmental Security, Energy Security, National Security.
[]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.
Rolled: mouli: 1D100 → 30( (30) )
30/50. Paperwork is a snarl, red tape from regional EPAs and the state DEQs is a mess.
"I have to ask, what does the EPA mean with this? All of this paperwork? It makes no sense at all, and I'm being as charitable as I can here. This is bullshit. This isn't something that a working man can fill out without some lawyer helping him. This is pure Washington."
-Comments from Director Harper on the first draft of EPA subsidy application forms, August 2001
"This one's better, but it's still half bullshit. Get it right, folks. You want a hog farmer to fill one out in his spare time, because the food processors are gonna make things hard to get the actual money. I know hog farmers. This one's too complicated. Too much time."
-Comments from Director Harper on the second draft of EPA subsidy applications, September 2001
"Finally. After 9/11 I thought we'd get sidetracked. At least we have the paperwork pipeline done."
-Comments from Director Harper on the final draft of EPA subsidy application forms, December 2001. Environmental Policy
[]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.
mouli: 3D100 → 115( (28 +71 +16) )
Finished, 115/100. Second stage locked for now. Required federal backing or oil corporation backing rather than cooperation.
Report to the Director
Biofuel Station Infrastructure
Abstract: This report is intended to advise Director Harper and the EPA about the results of Project Fueling, the effort to establish station infrastructure for vehicular utilization of subsidized biofuels. Project Fueling was not intended to establish a nationwide system of biofuel pumps at gas stations, but rather to lay out the regulatory framework for fuel mixes using biofuels, the use of tax breaks at the pump for the station owners as a way to easily administer utilization subsidies and lower the price of biofuels, and the trialling of a pilot program using corn ethanol mixes in the state of Iowa. As has been stated by Director Harper, the state of Iowa provides unique advatages for corn based ethanol projects…
"No, we just want to hold Iowa for 2002."
"Mm."
-Conversation between Director Harper and President Gore, 2001
Idaho National Labs has recently begun work on what are being called 'second generation' biofuels, namely low-footprint biofuels that draw on non-food biomass. The intent, according to the project leadership, is to ensure that biofuel production does not impact food production and to allow biofuel production to be conducted on marginal land. This in the long term makes biofuels a viable alternative to oil, at least in part. This sidesteps the food-vs-fuel argument advanced by certain states' farmers' lobbies as well as the national security question of food production and energy security, and has been deemed a priority following recent events and the passage of the US PATRIOT Act…
"More money?"
"Yes, Director."
"Goddamn, if I knew national security got Congress this erect I'd still be a Senator."
"Yes, Director."
"Dammit, that was a joke, Howard."
-Conversation between Director Harper and Chief Counsel Ayanna Howard, November 2001
Administration
Chosen target: Oil majors
Rolled: mouli: 1D100 → 30( (30) )
No real result
September reroll: 53
Energy-independence legislation spooks the oil majors. Noncommittal noises of cooperation are made. The winds are shifting a little.
The PATRIOT Act and the fall of the World Trade Center has spooked the major oil firms. For once, the energy lobby in the United States has a little less cohesion than earlier and is willing to be swayed in the face of what seems to be a sea change in government policy towards the oil-rich states of the Middle East. The oil companies are divided between those who have operations at home and in North America, those that rely on the Middle East, and those that rely on areas like Russia and the North Sea. Not to mention the oilfield services firms like Halliburton and Schlumberger, which have substantial Arab interests and substantial influence in Washington. They're divided and noncommittal, for now, thanks to this diversity.
That gives the national security complex time to control the narrative.
Education: 90
State: 95
As part of a concerted push in the U.S. for energy independence by oil-state Congressmen, hawks and environmentalists, the State Department wants the EPA onside for the use of 'environmental regulation compliance' and 'clean oil extraction' as a means of soft-power pressure similar to the establishment of liberal democracy. The use of calls for green energy allows Gore to pressure the Arab world and in particular the Saudis in a way that satisfies a Republican Congress that chafes just a little at its leadership's ties to the Saudi state. The oil majors are split between companies like ConocoPhillips who do most of their extraction at home, BP which has deep wells in the North Sea, and Exxon with its close ties to the Saudi dynasty.
Education in the meantime has taken account of Texas state legislation to teach the importance of domestic energy in schools, the expansion of the Enviro Education program and the Congressional push towards energy independence by expanded gas extraction, and wants a slice. Cooperation with the EPA on grants for student projects involving alternative energy is one such avenue.
Continued in Interlude: Environmental Security, Energy Security, National Security.
Ooof, at least those terrible rolls happened now, when all the attention is focused on 9/11. Were any other targets hit @mouli? It was a pretty bad roll.
[X]Blame the PATRIOT Act: A conventional approach that blames the PATRIOT Act and the tightening of national security. This might or might not salve things, but will almost certainly require you to make visible movements towards tightening said security.
Since this is being done by a Democratic government, we can hijack the criticisms the right wing media will inevitably sling towards it. Tightening security is not a bad thing either.
Ooof, at least those terrible rolls happened now, when all the attention is focused on 9/11. Were any other targets hit @mouli? It was a pretty bad roll.
Fair enough, a nat 1 for me would be president Gore not getting into safety and the plane crashing on the White House, not sure about a 3, though it is sure to be awful. It is in your hands though, will sure to be interesting, I doubt Congress will let the Saudis get off lightly this time since most of the hikackers were from there. No war though, that's never gonna happen between the US and them.
Who cares about Washington? Apart from those nuts in Eastern Washington?"
"Well, we thought-"
"We focus on natsec. We want to show Gore's weakness on 9/11. We don't need to hit the EPA right now. They didn't fuck up with nuclear waste, so there's no story big enough."
-Conversation in Fox News studios, November 2001
Thanks, I hate it. Reminder that main stream media is not and will not be our friend. Also, someone, probably an intern or on-the-ground reporter or researcher likes us a little.
[X] Blame the PATRIOT Act: A conventional approach that blames the PATRIOT Act and the tightening of national security. This might or might not salve things, but will almost certainly require you to make visible movements towards tightening said security.
If I could I would blame poor morale as a result of 9/11. The people of Portland feel extreme Patriotism and Grief for this grievous action on New York
Which would hopefully bridge the gap between Urban and Rural communities. However, this isn't an option, and I don't want to blame locals as it sounds like
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
We were required to move the budget to security leaving little for cleanup and we focused what little we had left on the nuclear waste issue. A simple mesage with a simple solution. Plus if that does make the admin like us a bit more we may be able to leverage that into a budget increase next year.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
[X]Blame the PATRIOT Act: A conventional approach that blames the PATRIOT Act and the tightening of national security. This might or might not salve things, but will almost certainly require you to make visible movements towards tightening said security.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
Whoo, rough turn there. Not much in the way of progress, although that biofuel stage completion ain't bad.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
Sometimes there's benefits to being the small fish.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
@mouli , just out of morbid curiosity, how well would we have to have rolled to thwart the whole plot?
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
[X]Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
[X] Blame the Budgeting: Mention that it's legally needed for security compliance, and hint at needing more money or regional assistance for fast progress since the EPA had to divert funding for security and expertise. This hints that the blame is on Congress and not on you, which endears you a little to the Administration but angers some Republicans. Not much, though. You're not significant enough.
Well, this looks like an interesting Quest. Hopefully the oughts are slightly less fucked.
