Fate of the World: A Climate Change Quest

Washington D.C.
September 19th​, 2001

The Ronald Reagan Federal Building is the same dismal place that Albert Sears remembers it being, and he isn't at all surprised. The end of history happened in 1991 and the non-military parts of the government got a bonanza – but the EPA got damn near nothing from that. Sears' own bunch at RAND got more than the EPA did in terms of funding increases. Or at least Sears thinks so. It's funny to think that. It gives Sears a nice friendly smile on his face when he checks in with the overworked receptionist and gets Director Harper's door number.

Harper himself is the same bland-senator-handsome-elderly that most retired Southern politicians are, with the same sort of noncommittal politeness that every lobbyist learns to expect when paying a visit. He's as polite as Sears can hope for in the one-hour appointment that Sears' staff at RAND had booked, waving the think-tank man into a chair and asking after his health. And then, as if switching off the pleasantries, Harper steeples his fingers on the table and asks more bluntly than Albert Sears expected, "So what brings the RAND man to the EPA? I'd have thought we're a bit beneath your notice."

Sears takes a moment before smiling politely at the jibe, well aware that the former senator in front of him probably resents the posting to some extent. The smart money at RAND is that Harper was pushed into the EPA as a sinecure of some kind, him having been ousted from Georgia at the end of the millennium – and so Albert Sears smiles politely with white veneers flashing in a dark face, seeking to defuse any resentment that might linger. "The EPA is the one agency in the administration that has been pushing for energy independence from the start of Gore's term. In the wake of recent events, we at RAND feel that the view has some weight."

"More weight than it had before, you mean." Harper's voice still has a trace of Georgia drawl, even here in Washington when taking pains to suppress it. It makes the comment seem amused, the senator's eyes betraying damn little to Albert Sears. "We at the EPA have been trying to get America off its addiction to Middle Eastern oil, Mr. Sears. We've pushed the biofuel program past Congress just for that, and the events of September 11th​ just vindicate that. We're not in it for more federal funding, we're in it for the good of America." The senator's spiel is something that Sears has heard before, in more than one senator's office before talks led nowhere. The same sort of polite stonewalling and noncommittal facade.
Of course, that just means that the lobbyist has to take out the stick as well as the carrot.

Sears smiles, "Of course, Director. But in the meantime, I'll note that most of the spending has been concentrated in states that might flip. Iowa, for instance. And the energy independence push has seen more funding go to Superfund sites than to energy development. There are holes in the EPA's strategy, and Congress wanted at one point to know why."

"I'm sure that the think-tanks have explanations for it, whether or not we at the EPA give one."

"Maybe." Sears nods when he sees Harper get the gist of it – nobody wants a fight now, and the EPA doesn't need to pontificate to someone who's been a long-term lobbyist on the Hill. "We at RAND have a proposal – to make sure that the government continues to make energy independence a priority and through that ensuring national security, we want a partnership."

Harper straightens in his chair, eyes intent and politician's facade cracking for a moment to reveal more than a little interest. "Tell me."

"You've got Congress interested in the idea of environmental science scholarships, get the EPA to pay college tuition for students who've done the right sort of project." Harper nods slowly, clearly waiting for the offer, and Sears continues with a self-satisfied note in his voice. The former senator is interested, at this point. Excellent. "Now, the Republican party's already screaming about the EPA funding hippies who don't do anything more than smoke pot and build a windmill. You know as well as I do, Director, that the national security side of energy independence is probably a better bet."

"So – what, a partnership? We pay for a RAND fellowship?" Harper's moving through possibilities, feeling out the lobbyist on the other side of the table, "We don't have the mandate or funding to manage that. Not favoring a private corporation that much."

"We don't suggest any such thing, Director." Sears takes a file from his briefcase, laying it on the Director's table, "Instead of that, we know that the current legislation is still working its way through the committees. All that we suggest is tying EPA scholarship funding more to the national security space and less to the hippies. Makes it easier to continue funding it."

"How would you do that?"

"Simply add in a proviso that the studies are to encourage U.S. energy independence and environmental security. Use the DoD's MEDEA program. Cast it as a natsec problem. And when the Congressional representatives ask where the graduates will work, just point at us." Sears grins, "A list of accredited national security consulting and policy think-tanks will do. We can pay the interns on our own dime, the researchers the same way. And when you tie yourself to DoD, it's a bit harder to move you."

Harper puts one hand on the folder, sliding it towards himself and looking at the contents without a glance at Albert Sears. His tone is entirely noncommittal, "I'll think about it. Thank you, Mr. Sears."
Sears smiles and whistles a little jingle on the way out. This one's in the bag, Sears is sure of it.

Pick one:
[]Go It Alone: Set up the EPA scholarships as planned, the funding locked in for eight years. This allows you to slant the direction of U.S. environmental education projects to some extent, and you're beholden to nobody.

[]Cooperation: Accept the RAND proposal, and thereby allow the Department of Defense to fund the scholarships in part, establishing a secure funding stream that ought to last anything barring a Second Depression. The catch is that the public-awareness angle will gravitate towards energy security and independence rather than pure climate-change awareness. The different means from this path might lead to the same end, though. Perhaps.