Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks in Sacramento

2010-11-20T02:13:25Z

Attorney and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., called for the entire nation to be linked on one electricity grid in a fiery speech in downtown Sacramento on Friday.

Kennedy was the keynote speaker for “Greenwise,” Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s environmental initiative. Since he started his initiative in June, Johnson has hosted talks with speakers including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. About 300 people attended Kennedy’s speech, which was held at the Hyatt Regency at 12th and L streets.

The country’s current energy system is irrational, Kennedy said, noting there are 50 different public utilities commissions. The electricity system in the nation should be linked together, Kennedy said, so that solar and wind energy could be used in every community.

“We need a national marketplace where every American is hooked to a national unified grid,” he said. “A marketplace that does what a real free market capitalism is supposed to do: which is supposed to reward good behavior, which is efficiency. And punish bad behavior, which is inefficiency and waste.”

Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA administrator for a region that includes California, Arizona and Hawaii, was among other speakers who addressed the audience before Kennedy arrived.

“People are looking to examples, and frankly, they’re looking to California,” Blumenfeld said. “They’re looking to the place where the iPhone comes from and saying, ‘You know what, they can invent this amazing thing. Surely, they can work out what to do with local government.’ And I think we’re rising to the occasion.”

Kennedy had been scheduled to speak at 11 a.m., but he arrived nearly an hour later because his flight to Sacramento was delayed.

Johnson improvised in the downtime before Kennedy arrived, telling humorous anecdotes to the audience and showing a clip of comedian Stephen Colbert interviewing environmentalist Van Jones.

In his talk, Kennedy simultaneously advocated for an alternative energy national electric grid and attacked the use of oil and coal energy.

Kennedy peppered his speech with insults directed at incumbent U.S. Congressmembers, the coal industry and Fox News. He drew applause from some members of the audience when he said: “Right now, we have a marketplace that is rigged by rules that were written by the incumbents to reward the dirtiest, filthiest, most poisonous, most destructive, most addictive fuels from hell, rather than the cheap, clean, green, wholesome, abundant fuels from heaven.”

Mark Henwood, a local clean energy business owner, was so amused by Kennedy’s colorful insults that he wrote them down.

However, Henwood pointed out that national legislation with rules for limiting greenhouse gas emissions has failed to receive approval from the U.S. Congress.

“We have some evidence that there’s not enough political will,” he said.

Before Kennedy’s talk, Johnson spoke about his hopes for environmentalism in Sacramento.

“We want to transform Sacramento in The Emerald Valley, the greenest region in the county and a hub for clean technology,” he said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Amtrak locomotive gets an eco-makeover

2009-07-23T07:20:19Z

California's air may start to look a little cleaner, thanks to the California Department of Transportation and its project partners.

Caltrans's revolutionary "green locomotive" debuted Wednesday morning at the Amtrak Sacramento Valley station.

Members of Caltrans and its project partners assembled within the train station at a press release to make statements regarding the new locomotive, considered a major step toward reducing California's carbon footprint.

It is one of the 15 F59PHI model locomotives owned by Caltrans and operated by Amtrak that is now installed with a 710ECO Repower upgrade package. The package is said to consist of the latest microprocessor-controlled locomotive engine technology for lower emissions, increased fuel economy and predictable maintenance costs.

The F59PHI models were initially built by Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. in October 2001 to meet Tier 0 Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards, the minimum EPA requirement for fuel emissions from passenger locomotives.

James Goldstene, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, explained that in other words, the newly-installed technology in the F59PHI model makes the engine run cooler and uses fuel more efficiently, allowing the locomotive to advance from Tier 0 to Tier 2 EPA emission standards, resulting in a 50 percent reduction of operating emissions.

Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said that the development is "an illustration of our willingness to work with anyone and everyone to clean up the air for Sacramentans." He added that climate change and global warming is an issue that must be addressed at the local level by communities, and that the newly-introduced technology makes riding the train a "smarter and better" decision than ever before.

Following the statements, the representatives of Caltrans, the EPA and other organizations descended into the tunnel beneath the Sacramento Valley rail tracks, resurfacing to stop and admire the "green locomotive."

The retrofitted model has already begun operating on the intercity passenger rail service Capitol Corridor between Sacramento and the Bay Area as of three weeks ago.

The Capitol Corridor serves the Sierra Foothills in addition to Sacramento and the Bay area, and it is operated by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in partnership with Caltrans and Amtrak.

Along with Amtrak California’s Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin intercity rail line, Capitol Corridor is the third busiest rail line in the nation with a ridership of 1.7 million.

Capitol Corridor alone is responsible for eliminating 559 million miles worth of highway travel, said Eugene Skoropowski, Capitol Corridor managing director.

Caltrans is working to convert the remaining 14 Amtrak-operated locomotives to this upgraded model — which is the cleanest diesel electric passenger locomotive in the country — as quickly as possible, stated Caltrans Division of Rail chief Bill Bronte. So far there is available stimulus funding for seven of the 14, he said.

Money for the project came from the Carl Moyer Program, a partnership between the California Air Resources Board and local air boards in the state that provides grants for projects reducing pollutants from heavy-duty engines. Retrofitting the F59PHI involved both the Sacramento Metropolitan and Bay Area Air Quality Management districts.

Kevin Bahline of EMD said that the company is in the process of launching the eco-friendly technology globally.

See also: Eco train engine unveiled

Photo Credit: Images 1, 2, 4 & 5 by Ed Fogle; images 3 & 6 by Kati Garner.

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks in Sacramento

Amtrak locomotive gets an eco-makeover