Welch takes fight against global warming personally
WASHINGTON --Dozens of senators and House members have co-sponsored legislation to fight global warming. Representative Peter Welch, a freshman Democrat from Vermont, wanted to do something personal as well: reduce his office's greenhouse gas emissions to effectively nothing.
So today Welch announced that he was installing low-energy flourescent bulbs, turning down the office temperature, and spending $672 of his own money to buy "carbon credits" from two Vermont renewable energy projects that are part of an emerging business practice called carbon trading. In essence, the two Vermont projects will save the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions that Welch's offices will produce, making his offices ``carbon neutral,'' the congressman said.
Welch, a 59-year-old lawyer and liberal activist, is believed to be the first member of Congress to take such an action -- but he is calling on all his colleagues on Capitol Hill and throughout the federal bureaucracy to follow suit.
``It has a significant impact in offsetting 56 tons of carbon by that modest expenditure'' of $672, Welch told reporters in his office. ``Add to it the possibility for 534 other congressional offices, both House and Senate, 15 federal executive departments, and 132 federal agencies. ... It can add up to a different way of doing business.''
Carbon dioxide is produced by burning fossil fuels, which can power cars, industries, and the making of electricity. Scientists say large amounts of carbon dioxide have become trapped in the atmosphere and are causing the gradual warming of the planet.
After Welch moved into his three-room, 863-square-foot office a month ago, he and his staff talked about legislative proposals to curb global warming. The discussion turned to ``what is the impact our congressional office has on global warming,'' Welch said.
He decided to tally up all the energy used in his official business -- from electricity in the Washington office and a 2,000-square-foot office in Burlington, Vermont, to the fossil fuel consumed from his flights home and staff travel around Vermont, including trips in his 2000 Suburu. It came to the equivalent of the emissions from 10 automobiles in one year, or 56 tons.
Welch then approached a Vermont-based company, NativeEnergy, which agreed to take his money to help pay for a methane project on a Westminster dairy farm and a biomass, pellet-fired boiler to replace a fossil-fuel one at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. The payment, he felt, is modeled on a plan by which energy users can essentially buy the right to pollute by supporting another group's successful efforts to save energy, thus reducing the country's overall energy burden.
Welch's staff asked House administration officials whether they could use his office budget to pay for such a plan.
``They said, `Yes, it makes sense, but no, you can't do it,' '' under rules governing spending office budgets. he said. So after ponying up the money for this year, Welch introduced legislation today that would let congressional offices and federal agencies use official funds for similar programs. It's his first major piece of legislation.
Tom Boucher, president of NativeEnergy, a Native American-owned energy company based in Charlotte, Vt., said he hopes Welch inspires others to do the same.
``What we see by this action is building awareness that it's easy to take action and not very expensive,'' Boucher said. Individuals and companies can easily sign up for such offsets through his company or other carbon traders, he said.
Bill McKibben, the author of ``The End of Nature,'' which in 1989 warned about the coming dangers of global warming, said today that one person's decision to reduce their carbon footprint may not seem significant. But he said Welch has the opportunity to have a major influence on the country's battle to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
``On the one hand, it's true that one-by-one, we're probably not going to get this job finished,'' said McKibben, who lives in Ripton, Vt., and who is organizing a set of national rallies on April 15 on global warming through the website http://www.stepitup07.org/. ``But on the other hand, what he did is incredibly significant because his office is in the House of Representatives. That is where the work has to take place.''
President Bush has opposed any plans to cap carbon dioxide emissions, saying that such a move would hurt the economy. Instead, he has proposed to greatly increase use of alternative fuels such as ethanol and raise the fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks.
Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have responded with much more aggressive plans to curtail emissions. Welch is supporting a bill introduced by Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, that calls for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Welch, who has just started to decorate his office with art of Lake Champlain, a farmhouse, and a print by folk artist Warren Kimble of a blockish cow, said most Vermonters want the US government to take serious action on global warming.
Asked whether he would change his own habits, Welch said he already walks to work on Capitol Hill and if he were to buy a new car, he might get for a hybrid. As for flying home, he said he didn't know of an alternative.
``Ultralights?'' he said, referring to glider-like aircraft. ``No.''
John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com 
