a colleague recommended he apply due to his work at just roots, a group partnering with grassroots organizations where they have turned two vacant plots of land into community farms within the chicagoland area. ruane said they grow and distribute over 25,000 pounds of food each year at their farms, impacting over 8,500 people on an annual basis. 

ruane, originally an educator from chicago, founded just roots after conversations with students, parents, and teachers about the number of vacant lots in the city. ruane also said in their conversations it came up “time and time again” about the lack of access to community green space and to fresh foods. 

“that’s where the initial spark of the organization started,” ruane said. 

ruane added he remembers one conversation where a parent was “frustrated” over this problem. 

areas of chicago face food insecurity, or what some people like to call a food apartheid, ruane said. he said this term recognizes the connection between systematic racism and the issues of food insecurity. these areas where food apartheid is prevalent are predominantly in communities of color within the west and south sides of the city, he added. 

according to the greater chicagoland hunger report, 25% of people in the greater chicagoland area face food insecurity. additionally, 36% of people also cannot afford the basic cost of living within their county, per the same report. 

diet quality is the leading risk factor for death in the united states, according to the aspen institute’s research on food. the research also said living in a household faced with food insecurity can lead to increased risk of having a chronic condition. 

ruane said on average the communities just roots serves have a poverty rate of 24% and an employment rate of 12%. 

“the food we grow stays within a five mile radius,” ruane said.  

ruane added their farms are sustainable as they run using regenerative agriculture. he said they are using practices which not only help grow food to nourish people, but also nourish the soil. this is an aspect of agriculture he said the aspen fellowship shows a lot of interest in. 

during the 18 month long fellowship, ruane said he will continue to engage in in-depth conversations with the 17 other fellows in the program. he said all of them do work on agriculture and food, but they are doing it on different scales and have unique perspectives on their work. 

he said during the program, the fellows are able to discuss how they can do their work better and create a better future for the communities they serve.

“i’m excited to experience the rest of the process,” ruane said. 

while out on the river, the workers perform river quality monitoring, measuring acidity and clarity. maeda, water quality specialist at the aws for the past 20 years, leads this effort and said the water quality of the river has improved, which can be attributed to mussel deployment and reduced sewage runoff. 

“the anacostia river may look better than you think,” maeda said.

testing water quality along the anacostia river

the pair set off from the aws boat dock at the eastern power boat club. from there, they spend two to three hours on the river, hitting 10 different water quality testing stations. their route goes from the south capitol street bridge, at the intersection of the potomac river, up through the bladensburg bridge, near the border of the district and southern maryland.

maeda said he checks the river’s clarity by dipping a clean water bottle into the river to gather a sample. he also checks the river through a water quality testing machine. with this machine, maeda checks for the water’s acidity and temperature. he also looks at the dissolved oxygen in the water, the e. coli levels, and the conductivity.

these measurements help him determine the river’s health for human consumption, aquatic life, recreation, and other uses.

for the past eight years, maeda has brought along volunteer spottswood, a 78-year-old from north bethesda, md. she uses a secchi disk, a black-and-white patterned plate, to check the water’s clarity by lowering it into the water and measuring the depth at which it disappears. 

according to spottswood, the section of the anacostia river closer to the potomac is clearer compared to upper parts of the river. this is because the tidal section in maryland has more fecal bacteria from wildlife compared to areas near the potomac river, per the 2021 aws report card. 

“we’d love to see the bottom,” she said. “we never will.” 

spottswood got involved with the aws after taking their maryland master naturalist course. when the instructor said maeda needed a volunteer, she said she jumped at the opportunity. 

“i love being on the river,” spottswood said. “it’s just so beautiful.”

aws also relies on volunteers to help deploy mussels into the anacostia river. jorge bogantes montero, 43, restoration program manager at the aws, is in charge of this effort and said these mussels are part of the reason for a cleaner river. he said the aws began deploying the mussels in 2019.

since then, he said, over 38,000 mussels have been reintroduced into the anacostia river. they now filter 10-20 gallons of water per day, adding up to the equivalent of over 210 olympic-sized pools per year.

bogantes said volunteers make this project possible, as they are the ones releasing the mussels. he said the mailing list for the mussel volunteers is around 300 people. 

“the mussel project has been eye-opening for us,” bogantes said. “when we started, we were not expecting the support we have received for this project.”

reasons for anacostia river water quality improvement

maeda said it’s difficult to link mussel deployment directly to improved water quality because there are not many mussels upstream in the anacostia river. he said a main reason for an improvement in water quality is a decrease in sewage in the river, thanks to several projects run by the district’s department of energy and environment of the district through their restoring the anacostia river website.

the anacostia river sediment project, for example, identifies potential contaminants located within the anacostia river, along with the washington channel and kingman lake. and in november 2024, the doee also released their anacostia river corridor restoration plan. 

they also work on stormwater and sewage management systems through their riversmart homes program. 

since 2007, the riversmart homes program website said, it has supported residents with rain barrels, shade trees, rain gardens, and native plants. the program website also said it reimburses the construction behind the movement of large hard-surface areas like driveways or patios. 

these efforts reduce sewage and polluted runoff by helping rain soak into other areas instead of carrying trash into storm drains, according to the riversmart homes website. richard jackson, director of the doee, said this program works to prevent pollution.  

“it’s an old program,” jackson said. “but it’s still very effective and many people enjoy that program and benefit from it.” 

this past november, the aws released its 2025 state of the anacostia river report, showing improvements. 

the overall score was a pass of 65%, or a d, which is the second highest grade ever recorded, according to the report. but the anacostia river has not always passed the test, maeda said. the state of the anacostia river reports from 2019, 2022, and 2023 all showed failing grades. 

maeda said this means the river has shown improvement, but still has a long way to go.

after president donald trump’s administration froze ira funds intended for green banks through the greenhouse gas reduction fund, climate united, a national investment fund supporting clean energy projects, challenged the freeze in court. green banks are organizations using public and private capital to fund clean energy projects such as those including solar.

the lawsuit involves the plaintiffs the environmental protection agency and citibank, the financial intermediary for the funds, and addresses the justification and structure of ira funding for green energy initiatives. 

read the interview with yoo below.

the interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

maggie rhoads: walk me through how the opportunity to write the amicus brief came up. how did you get involved? 

paul yoo, ph.d.: it came up through an organization called the coalition for green capital — in short, cgc. my co-authors and i were trying to answer a research question about whether or not these entities called green banks were trying to allocate capital into projects that are more green, more responsible, more sustainable.

so we were trying to answer those questions, and we wanted some sort of data, and these green banks’ data, if there is any, would have been stored by this organization called coalition for green capital. so we reached out to them. they told me the data wasn’t really there, but happy to kind of coordinate whatever becomes available. 

mr: how long ago was that connection?

py: it was, like, a year and a half or two years ago, i cannot recall. so they knew about my research interest in this area.

mr: and how did that lead to the amicus brief?

py: the coalition was heavily involved with applying to get this funding from the inflation reduction act, or ira. there is a part of the ira that is the greenhouse gas reduction fund, or ggrf, and they’re trying to apply for a portion of that fund as a group of green banks, and they got it. but now, after mr. trump got appointed as president, that fund is now frozen. and because of that, they went into the court for arbitration, and for that they reached out to me to see if i could serve as an expert contributor to the amicus brief. 

mr: what courts are these for?

py: to the best of my knowledge, they went to the appeals court. they recently lost by the panel of three judges by two to one, and then they are recommended to go through this special court called the court of federal claims.

they’re now going in that direction, which i think is asking all the juries in d.c. [for] their opinions, and if that doesn’t go well, or doesn’t go in favor of the plaintiffs, what i understand is they will then go to the supreme court for the final arbitration. so i would expect myself to be involved throughout that whole process until the end.

mr: how specifically are you involved besides writing the brief? what kind of expert advice do you give?

py: one of the biggest points that these lawyers are trying to make to the judges is that the ira money and how that money is dispersed to the grant recipients of these green banks, the format of how this money will flow, is a little different from the traditional grants from the department of energy or the epa. it actually has a different form. this ira money that goes to the green banks will not be a grant that is reimbursement-based. 

mr: can you explain the difference in simple terms?

py: a lot of grants that are given by the federal government say, “go ahead and spend this amount, but after you spend that amount, come back to me and get reimbursed.” so that money doesn’t sit with the account of the grant recipient until they get this thing reimbursed.

ira money, the ggrf money that cgc and climate united received, [was] taking a different form. even before they actually spend [the money], it will come to their account balances, like, as a personal account balance.

so now the lawyers are trying to argue that this kind of different form of capital flow that is giving more freedom and authority to these plaintiffs is justifiable, or that it has economic sense, because of the fact that there [is] very well-established research showing the scope of what you can do to use those funds efficiently for different projects when you actually have those assets in your balance sheet. you have full authority to allocate such funds to which[ever] projects, which gives more efficiency, and more likelihood of effectively unlocking private capital.

plastic bottles account for 60% of all trash retrieved from the anacostia river by weight, according to the anacostia riverkeeper. councilmember brianne k. nadeau, a democrat from ward 1, said the goal of the bill is to reduce the overall amount of litter found in the anacostia river by providing monetary incentive, along with benefiting the public health of people and wildlife. 

nadeau introduced the law in january. it would enable customers to return empty bottles and cans to businesses in the district where they would receive 10 cents for each container.

“if you travel by boat along the anacostia river, you can see how many bottles and cans wash out from neighborhoods into the river,” nadeau said in an email.

the case for the bottle bill

chris weiss, 58, executive director of the dc environmental network, testified on behalf of the bottle bill at the dc council hearing. during his testimony, he said over 50 regions globally operate a system similar to the scheme being proposed in the bottle bill, including 17 european countries, australia, canada and more. 

weiss later added in an interview that 10 states have implemented bottle bills, including his home state of california. when he used to live in california, he said he would go around and collect bottles to receive a little extra cash. 

“my dad would say, ‘hey, you want some money? go collect some bottles,’” weiss said.  

california passed its beverage container recycling and litter reduction act, or bottle bill, in 1986.

in addition to california, connecticut, delaware, hawaii, iowa, maine, massachusetts, michigan, new york, oregon and vermont also have bottle bills. the first state to enact one was oregon in 1971 with the beverage container act, according to the oregon beverage recycling cooperative, which runs the program.

during his testimony, weiss said the ocean conservancy reported nearly 27% of the u.s. population is covered by a system like the one being proposed in the district. despite representing just over a quarter of the country, he said these programs are responsible for more than 50% of aluminum can recycling.

fiscal uncertainty complicates the bill’s future

this spring, the district faced a potential $1 billion budget cut when a federal continuing resolution would have caused the government to move back to its fiscal year 2024 spending levels mid-year, according to the dc fiscal policy institute.

this budget bill did not pass but the city responded with hiring and pay raise freezes along with employee furloughs, per axios. 

weiss said beverage producers will fund the program rather than taxpayers.

during the hearing, risa hirao, president and general counsel of the district of columbia association of beverage alcohol wholesalers, stood in opposition to the bill. she said distributors will be responsible for funding the program rather than the district government.

“d.c. businesses cannot absorb this level of cost,” she said during the hearing.

riverkeeper and wildlife advocates call for environmental action

riverkeeper trey sherard, 41, from the anacostia riverkeeper, an organization working to restore and protect the anacostia river, said during the hearing that small businesses with under 2,000 square feet of retail space are exempt from the law, meaning they are not required to collect bottles or cans from the public, sherard said. 

the anacostia riverkeeper contributes to trash collection in the anacostia river. they host river clean-up events and have bandalong litter traps working to catch trash in the river according to their website.

since 2015, when the anacostia riverkeeper began keeping detailed data collection of their community cleanups and traps, they have removed 187,098.2 pounds of trash from the anacostia river, averaging out to 17,000 pounds of trash per year as of october 2025, according to an email sent by a representative of the anacostia riverkeeper. 

the email said they have removed approximately 339,293 plastic bottles from the river.

these plastic bottles have effects on people, sherard said. he said the bottles add microplastics, or pieces of plastic less than five millimeters, into the environment for people to breathe, drink and eat. microplastics are absorbed into humans’ bodies and cause various diseases within the endocrine and reproductive systems, according to the yonsei medical journal.   

“we have plasticized ourselves,” sherard said. 

lorraine docherty, 56, also spoke in support of the bill. docherty is executive director of city wildlife, an organization rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife in the district. she said in an interview that wildlife “frequently” becomes entangled with plastics, which can lead to an untimely death through starvation or predation. 

during her testimony, she said a study from the american chemical society of environmental science and technology which she said plastic pollution has exceeded the safe planetary boundary, meaning rainwater is no longer safe to drink due to microplastics. 

“d.c.’s bottle bill offers a proven solution,” docherty said. 

as of publication, it is unclear when the next hearing on a potential district bottle bill will occur.

several experts on a panel from rural and urban communities discussed their progress and challenges of being a farmer. the panel was hosted by mya o. price, an assistant professor at the global food institute, with panelists dion dawson, chief dreamer of dion’s chicago dream; cicely garrett, co-executive director of the national black food and justice alliance; qiana mickie, new york city’s inaugural executive director of the office of urban agriculture within the mayor’s office; and ashley c. smith, executive director of black soil ky.

before the panel began, opening remarks were shared by tambra raye stevenson, the founder and ceo of women advancing nutrition, dietetics, and agriculture (wanda). she discussed her heritage as a fifth-generation oklahoman and the historical significance of black farming communities.

she also highlighted the erasure of black cultural contributions and the need for policy changes. addressing the audience, she asked them to “plant hope,” meaning attendees should support black food sovereignty through community and policy efforts.

“by planting hope, we will not just simply survive: we will thrive,” stevenson said.

ashley c. smith of black soil ky, an organization promoting agriculture to black kentuckians, said a major challenge for black farmers in a rural area is balancing the finances. she said rural farmers know no one, like national funders, are coming to “save them.”

according to the economic research service, a part of the department of agriculture researching agriculture, the environment, and rural development, 86% of all united states counties with “high and persistent levels” of poverty in 2019 were rural.

“we can’t have our farmers standing in the food bank or food pantry lines,” smith said. “they have to be fully supported.”

cicely garrett of the national black food and justice alliance, an organization representing rural and urban black farmers, said she saw some successes amid the challenges. she specifically pointed to a growing number of people who are more open to collaboration. she said more people have space to breathe, they have the time to dream of certain ideas, and they want to collaborate to make their ideas possible.

“having more encouragement around people doing this, like organic, genuine relationships in which they have shared values and vision, is something we are seeing more of,” garrett said.

qiana mickie of the new york city mayor’s office said there are some innovations and strategies giving her hope today. one example was people creatively using spaces, especially in urban areas. she said she wants to use underutilized spaces, like by expanding community and school gardens.

“there is the opportunity of leveraging smaller micro-contracts, or meeting them where they’re at, at their scale and still creating contracts that can create food,” mickie said.

but she also added there is not much sustainability and upkeep in places like community or school gardens, as they require maintenance.

in terms of black communities responding to climate change, organizations are finding some success, dion dawson said. dawson runs dion’s chicago dream, an organization working to improve health outcomes and equity while addressing food security in chicago. according to dawson, the organization produces around a quarter of million pounds annually and does not waste anything.

while working towards a solution, dawson added, he hopes everyone does not have a doomsday plan; rather, he challenges everyone to think about a future they can hope for. he also said “resiliency” is necessary, but in some cases it is not needed. 

for dawson, the goal of building a sustainable future is a group effort. “i think everyone should look at themselves like a lego,” dawson said.

the ocean conservancy, an environmental nonprofit working to protect the world’s oceans, hosted its annual international coastal cleanup on the anacostia river at anacostia park on sept. 27. the effort aims to keep the river free of debris and trash, but also addresses the deeper challenge of reducing flood risks for the anacostia community, said sarah weller, senior manager for the international coastal cleanup. 

“the debris causes more flooding if it’s in there, either floating at the surface or caught up in natural debris,” weller said.

prior to the cleanup, weller said volunteers would be cleaning the area near the river and expected to collect 400-500 pounds of trash.

weller said the ocean conservancy only does one river clean-up per year on the anacostia river. but the anacostia riverkeeper, an organization measuring and preventing pollution in the river, hosts river clean-ups throughout the year. their volunteers have removed more than 182,000 pounds of trash since 2014.

rising flood risks

riverkeeper trey sherard of the anacostia riverkeeper said rainwater sweep debris and trash from city streets into the river. as a result, there is less room in the natural riverbed for water from the next storm. the rain still needs somewhere to go, so it floods out into the neighborhood.

“there’s going to be more water trying to get down here anytime it does rain,” sherard said. 

sherard added that the flooding residents see most often is along the road of the anacostia park — where the volunteers cleaned up trash at the event. 

research from first street, an organization monitoring locations at risk to climate change, said 22.4% of properties in the anacostia historic district have a risk of flooding. 

flooding is also tied to public health problems like increased respiratory and related allergic health effects due to dampness and mold, a yale school of public health study found. residents living east of the anacostia are twice as likely to report “fair or poor health” compared to those west of the river, an aarp study reported.

george washington university geography department chair david rain said there are other factors making anacostia more prone to flooding. he said the ground in the neighborhood is mostly clay and sand, materials which cannot reliably support the weight of a house. the instability of the ground causes foundations to crack and lean to one side, lowering houses closer to rising water.

there has also been increased rainfall within the past decade, which, along with anacostia being on a floodplain, is leading to a higher risk of flooding compared to the overall risk of the district of columbia, he said.

taking action in anacostia

one volunteer, mia elliott, said it was her second time at the river clean-up through the ocean conservancy. she is originally from los angeles, and said her connection to the ocean prompted her to volunteer. 

she said she notices litter on the streets of the city which often get caught in the waterways.

“i mean, obviously that’s, like, horrible for the residents and the environment,” elliott said. 

a 68-year-old community member and environmental advocate of anacostia, brenda richardson, said she has been a victim of flooding. richardson said she lives in a townhouse which is over 100 years old. she added that every time it rains and water goes over the curb, her basement floods.  

“it’s just something i’ve come to grips with,” richardson said. “and i’ve learned to deal with it.” 

the d.c. department of energy and the environment, or doee, aims to improve conditions for residents like richardson with its riversmart program. meredith upchurch, 55, associate director of the doee’s natural resources administration, said the goal is to stop stormwater from going into rivers and streams. 

upchurch said doee sends contractors to homes to recommend how to stop or slow stormwater. according to a doee pamphlet, these projects include rain barrels, planting trees, and more. 

but riversmart may not be a permanent solution. even before the government shutdown beginning oct. 1, the u.s. house of representatives cut $1 billion from the district’s budget, threatening programs like riversmart.

according to richard jackson, director of the doee, the d.c. council prioritized protecting the program.

“we’ve been able to have money added to it,” jackson said, “but this was purely from a local enhancement.” 

now, with federal funding lapsed, the future of riversmart funding remains uncertain.

but weller from the ocean conservancy said community clean-up efforts remain a crucial tool for combating flood risks around the world. in addition to the conservancy’s annual clean-up in anacostia, the organization hosts different international coastal clean-ups in europe and africa. 

“these volunteer clean-ups are really important for flood prevention,” weller said.

editor’s note: coverage of water stories is made possible, in part, by the walton family foundation.  the editorial content is determined by planet forward staff and students. we thank the walton family foundation for their continued support.

amonette, who lives in rural southwestern montana as a full time technical writer, has volunteered with the citizens climate lobby (ccl) since 2013, working to promote bipartisan climate policies to congress. her passion for climate change began during an internship in washington, d.c. where a conversation about climate change and listening to dr. james hansens’s warnings pushed her towards advocating for solutions.

read the interview with amonette below.

editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

maggie rhoads: how do you connect with farmers on climate change?

alex amonette: i help get columns written in local newspapers through the media. there are little rural towns across the state of montana, and they each have a newspaper. that’s a good place to tell stories about how climate impacts farmers and ranchers. my job is to make friends with many of the editors of these newspapers and submit our articles to them. 

mr: how do farmers feel about climate change? 

aa: it varies. some people don’t want to talk about it. you get a lot of farmers and ranchers who want to put solar panels up and nobody has talked to them about climate change. they are just trying to cut their electric bills in half.

mr: i’m assuming these farmers who put renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind onto their properties just to save money are getting any benefits from the inflation reduction act or the bipartisan infrastructure law.

aa: the inflation reduction act helped fund a program administered by the usda called reap, or the rural energy for america program. until the trump administration, that program was going into full force. now it’s frozen, and many of these ranchers and farmers were counting on reap funding that was funded by the inflation reduction act to put solar panels on their barns and things like that. 

mr: what policies should be implemented to address climate change concerning farmers? 

aa: we’re advocating for preserving clean energy tax credits from the inflation reduction act. no republicans voted for the inflation reduction act. however, many states like texas took advantage of the clean energy tax credits and they’ve got many windmills. they’re not doing it for renewable energy because they believe in climate change. they’re doing it because it’s a great opportunity to have more of a diversified renewable energy source. 

mr: does your status as a rural citizen make it easier for you to connect with people like farmers about climate change?

aa: oh yeah, i’m surrounded by ranchers and farmers. i’m talking to ranchers and farmers all the time. there are some people, a dear friend passed away from covid-19 a few years ago, but she and her husband deliver eggs. he is a fox news listener and never wanted to discuss climate change with me, but i really enjoyed them. they were my good friends, and i could count on them as neighbors. the fact that we disagreed on climate change never came between us, not as an issue. 

mr: is he a believer in climate change? 

aa: no.

mr: no? he doesn’t believe in it. 

aa: no, he followed rush limbaugh for years. and, you know, climate change was a hoax, and you can’t talk to him about it. he says, oh, that’s for the birds. 

mr: so he shuts down the conversation.

aa: yeah. it’s like, you’re joking, alex, get out of here. however, i also want to tell you that it’s getting easier to talk to people who their whole life have voted republican. maybe they don’t believe in climate change. and that’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of republicans who know that climate change is happening. my senator knows that climate change is happening. he’s seen the data. he can tell it’s happening. he may not want to talk about it because he doesn’t want to lose a chance of getting re-elected, and a large part of his base doesn’t believe in climate change. it was a taboo topic to talk about, but that doesn’t matter anymore. 

mr: so people would rather talk about the economics behind climate change benefiting them. 

aa: some people don’t want to talk about it. i want to tell you a little anecdote. one time, i was at a farmer’s market. i had some leaflets, talking about the carbon fee and cash back policy. i handed one to these guys, and they looked a bit, and both of them just started ranting at me.

“you know, girly, carbon dioxide has been around forever. it’s part of the carbon cycle.” they went on for 20 minutes, talking at me instead of with me about climate change. and i relax. it was a hot day. i had lemonade. i just sipped my lemonade, listened to them, and nodded, just listened to them. and after a while, they got tired of talking to me and said, “well, thank you for listening.” i said it was my pleasure. i learned a lot talking to you guys. would you like me to explain why i’m standing here with this leaflet about this policy? and they said, well, ok.

and i think that part of the problem is that people don’t feel listened to. so listen to people, let them rant. give them the time of day. let them tell you what their concerns are, you know, and then, when it’s appropriate, talk with them. 

in 2015, pope francis wrote his encyclical letter laudato si’, calling catholics around the world to environmental action. in 2021, pope francis followed this by telling catholic organizations to launch a seven year plan to create environmentally sustainable efforts within their communities. some catholic organizations in washington, d.c., like the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 and its member school within the catholic university of america (cua) have also chosen to follow the pope’s encyclical. 

gabrielle choate is cua’s director of sustainability and is solely in charge of the campus’s operation and engagement for the school’s community. “i’m a one person team,” choate said.

engaging students in sustainability

while cua does not have an environmental science program, they offer a sustainability minor along with programs in environmental chemistry and environmental engineering. as part of their efforts to engage the community, choate said she invites faculty in for monthly meetings to discuss how to implement conversations about sustainability into their classrooms for subjects that are not necessarily about the environment. 

“the student body, the staff and faculty are receptive to sustainability, especially as we relate it back to the church’s teachings,” choate said. 

one example, choate said, is a business professor incorporating a lesson on sustainability into a marketing course. she added that this allows students who may not have previously encountered sustainability concepts to engage with them in their studies.

like many universities, cua also organizes a green move-out in which departing dormitory denizens recycle unwanted belongings, runs the cardinal closet, a free thrift store funded by donated clothes for students, and much more. but choate said that her favorite program is cua’s community garden.

“you can’t get better than an afternoon or a morning hanging out in the community garden,” choate said, adding there are many birds, butterflies, and dragonflies to watch. 

even though she is a one-woman team, choate said she spends her days performing many different tasks. she might begin in the community garden before checking out the thrift store. she also added she fills out award applications, updates cua’s website about their sustainability efforts and meets with students, faculty and staff. 

“it’s exciting,” choate said. “every day is different.” 

the standard solar project

although not directly run by the university, across the street to the west of the basilica, cua leased out land to standard solar, a solar project developer, to create a solar panel farm to benefit nearby communities. the farm has been in operation since the summer of 2024. 

cua was not directly involved in the construction of the solar panel farm, but choate said they pay for power at a reduced price. standard solar mainly sells the power to pepco who then supplies district residents who have signed up to receive community solar benefits. 

before the solar panel farm was constructed, the site was a naturally wooded area. of the original 40 acre property, approximately 15 acres were cleared to make space for the solar panel farm while the remaining 25 acres were left untouched. 

choate added these efforts were made to support the local ecosystem by also planting the first round of pollinator plants beneath the solar panels this past fall. the dc beekeepers alliance has also installed three beehives on the property to further promote biodiversity.

“the bees are very happy, very productive,” choate said. 

according to choate, it is estimated that the bees have produced 25 pounds of honey so far with hope for much larger amounts in the future once the bees fully establish their colonies.

she also said the area has a couple of large stormwater retention basins, which hold runoff rainwater from surrounding areas and temporarily hold it to prevent rapid release into storm water drains. choate said this benefits the bees as well since they have a water source nearby their hive and plants. 

catholic connections

to the south of the basilica are the headquarters for the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 which include 10 theological graduate schools in the eastern and western tradition located in the washington metropolitan area, pennsylvania, and central virginia, one of which is cua’s school of theology. 

headed by executive director larry golemon, the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 educational programs offer a certificate in ecology and theology. students are required to obtain five credits to achieve the certification, but each school in the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 has different courses which meet the requirements. 

for example, golemon said students at wesley theological seminary near american university have a course on ecology in the anacostia river along with one where they go hiking in west virginia to learn about fracking and forms of mining. by providing green curriculum to the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 ’s partnering institutions, they are lifting the “visibility” of available courses at these schools. 

he also mentioned students often do not come to a school associated with the theological washington 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 with plans to obtain a certificate in ecology and theology, rather they take one class fulfilling a certificate requirement and decide to take more. 

but golemon said these sustainability efforts extend beyond their institution’s educational offerings. at the virginia theological seminary in alexandria, va., the four new faculty homes built on campus were the first residential buildings to obtain leed certification in alexandria. the family dorms also located on the campus have leed certification as well. 

in the washington theological 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 offices, golemon said they only have recycling programs and little reminders to turn off the lights before leaving the room. but golemon said this is for good reason. 

“if there’s any action going on in the 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 , it’s certainly not in our offices,” golemon said. “it’s on the campuses of our schools.”

when then-recent college graduate luke bolar stepped on capitol hill  working for sen. chuck grassley (r-iowa) then rep. steve scalise’s (r-la.) offices, never would he think the climate divide would spin out into what it is today. 

bolar now works as the chief external affairs officer for clearpath, a conservative organization focusing on solutions to produce more clean energy and lower emissions but with a focus on innovation over regulation. but bolar has said that since the cap and trade debate emerged from the american clean energy and security act in the late 2000s, division on the topic of climate change has only widened in american politics. 

read the interview with bolar below.

maggie rhoads: i mainly want to spend this interview talking about the american clean energy and security act. can you just talk a little bit more about what that means?

luke bolar: that was the big piece of legislation that would have created a cap and trade system that was probably started as a concept before 2009 and then really came to congress as something that was debated in 2009. it would have essentially created [a system] where you force certain technologies like more renewables onto the grid and cap emissions from others.

a cap and trade system allows companies to purchase greenhouse gas emissions allowances beyond a set emissions allocation by a regulatory body.

lb: in some cases, it would have made it really hard to continue using [non-renewable energy technologies]. from our perspective at clearpath, that’s not the right system because we think the ability to scale up a new technology of any kind, if it’s low emission should be accelerated and supported.

mr: ok, so it was mentioned that 2008 and 2009 was a turning point in terms of how climate change has become so divisive. can you talk a little bit more about that? 

lb: i started my career on capitol hill, and climate change was not political. i was fresh out of college, writing press releases for a republican lawmaker about how we needed more wind energy to lower emissions. we need more renewable fuels because they would reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil and gas and lower emissions. 

then, you start getting into the cap and trade legislation, which was a policy dispute because of how it was structured. most republicans opposed that policy, and as part of the political lexicon and the debate at the time, the republicans who opposed that piece of legislation were labeled as climate deniers or anti-climate solutions, which wasn’t really the case. and then it escalated from there. now, over the last five years, that’s starting to change back into depoliticizing climate and just the lexicon of climate change. 

mr: and just to confirm you’re saying that there’s an effort now to depoliticize climate action. how exactly have you seen that?

lb: a lot of republicans in congress talk about the concerns they have that climate impacts can have. you also saw that from president trump’s nominees for the energy-related agencies, the environment, the environmental protection agency, the department of energy, and the department of interior. administrator lee zeldin, secretary chris wright, and secretary doug burgum all got asked about climate change in their confirmation hearings, and they all addressed it in a way that, yes, climate change is real. we should focus on what they see as viable solutions. 

mr: and you would say that those who tend to be more left leaning said, ‘oh, because you’re not supporting this solution to climate change, that means you’re against the climate.’ 

lb: that’s very fair to say. that was pretty well documented, with plenty of news media and congressional testimony from democrats who would make that case at the time. and that continued for the next decade.

mr: do you think that climate change should be a controversial issue? or no?

lb: i don’t think it is. we actually do a lot of polling. i just ran a nationwide survey recently, and 6% of the american public doesn’t think climate change is happening. you don’t have many people in this country who believe climate change is not happening. based on that, it’s not controversial. the solutions can be controversial. and when you get into economic viability and technology, there will be policy disagreements, and that’s good. and if you think those are controversial, that’s okay, but i don’t. 

mr: but is it being covered in a controversial manner because of the solutions that people are proposing?

lb: [the controversy] may have started before a false narrative of fossil energy versus renewable energy. that gets covered as if you’re not all in on renewables, then you’re not for climate change. or if you support fossil energy, then you’re not for climate change. we think that’s a false choice. that’s a false narrative. 

we produce fossil energy in america cleaner than most of the rest of the world, and we think there are great technologies to continue to make those technologies produce even lower emissions. and that’s what i’m talking about with our innovation agenda, lowering those emissions from fossil fuels because fossil energy doesn’t cause climate change. it is the emissions from them. if you can find ways to lower emissions, you can ultimately see a world where we will continue to use fossil energy in a way similar to what we do today. 

mr: clearly you’re arguing for a deregulatory way to approach climate change, but where is the compromise? where are you willing to compromise on what you stand for? 

lb: yeah, i don’t call it a deregulatory agenda. we are thinking of modernizing the regulatory system. many of the environmental laws in place today were written in the 1970s. we needed strong environmental laws, and those were actually, in most cases, written and implemented by republicans. 

at the time, there were a lot of environmental concerns that we needed to address, and we put good, strict laws in place. but how we build and produce energy today is obviously different from the 1970s, so we look at regulatory policy as modernizing it and keeping pace with the newer technologies, not deregulating. having good environmental standards in the us is important, so it’s about modernizing that deregulation.

mr: yeah, but where’s the compromise?

lb: there’s going to be a great compromise when you look at permitting. regulatory policy has many different directions to go, but based on how you permit an energy project, if you ask a democrat or a republican, should we update and modernize how we permit an energy project? both of them will say yes, we should. 

there is a broad compromise on the need to improve how we permit projects, which would be regulatory policy. so there already is a general consensus, a general bipartisan consensus. now, you get into some of the nuances and some of the specific laws. how do you change those? that’s when you start to get into some of the disagreements, and, again, that’s part of the process, and that’s ok.

mr: do you think compromise and bipartisan support are the same thing? 

lb: they can be, but not necessarily. good policy needs to be politically durable, which means it needs to be bipartisan. and so oftentimes, that does mean compromise, but it doesn’t have to mean compromise. it may be a different approach, or we could get to some piece of what i would have wanted in a different vehicle, legislatively. they’re different, they’re similar, they can be the same in legislation, but not exactly the same.

tucked away behind a catholic organization building in northeast washington, d.c., lies a vast solar farm soaking up the sun’s rays as energy for catholic buildings. 

dan last, the co-executive officer of mission energy, which is partnered with the catholic energies program, helped build this solar farm for catholic charities along with 18 other solar farms for catholic organizations in the washington metropolitan area. but most recently, last said he has been taking screenshots of the united states department of energy websites because of the “uncertainty” president donald trump’s administration has introduced into the industry. 

“rather than going out and trying to give nonprofit organizations equal access to solar and help develop new projects so that i can employ my people, i am a highly paid ceo who is taking screenshots,” last said. 

since taking office, the new york times reported the trump administration has taken down more than 8,000 web pages from across more than a dozen u.s. government websites. this includes more than 3,000 pages from the center for disease control and more than 1,000 pages from the office of justice programs. 

several pages mentioning environmental policy initiatives have also been taken down from the department of the interior website. 

what last is screenshotting in response are energy community maps. last said these are areas “disproportionately” impacted by power production, meaning they are communities surrounded by infrastructure like power plants or mining sites. 

these screenshots last took shows individuals in areas eligible to receive an extra 10% of direct pay for renewable energy projects affiliated with the inflation reduction act.

former president joe biden passed the inflation reduction act (ira) in 2022 which partly helped individuals and businesses receive tax credit if they install renewable energy on their property. for last and his clients at catholic nonprofits at mission energy, the inflation reduction act subsidizes 30% to 50% of the costs for their projects through direct pay. 

“it really was a game changer for nonprofit organizations,” last said. 

on trump’s first day in office on jan. 20, one of 26 executive orders he signed titled, “unleashing american energy,” stopped individuals and organizations from receiving funding for projects like the ones from mission energy. this order still remains in effect.

“all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the inflation reduction act of 2022,” the executive order stated. 

last said he is not sure what will happen if ira funding completely goes away. but if it stops, the funding of renewable energy projects will shift back towards power purchase agreements, a method organizations used before the ira. these agreements have third party developers pay for renewable energy projects and are paid back from the organizations to investors over a set amount of years. 

“[third party developers] like working with our groups because churches, catholic healthcare systems, religious communities are not going anywhere and in some cases have been around for hundreds of years,” last said in a previous planet forward article.  

third party developers for renewable energy projects are only allowed in at least 29 states and washington, d.c. 

out of mission energy’s 40 completed projects, 26 of them have used a power purchase agreement. since the passage of the ira, only two out of the 14 projects under construction are having a power purchase agreement. all 14 projects are using some ira benefits with 12 of them using direct pay. 

besides working with catholic institutions, mission energy also works with other nonprofits. last said before the ira, most groups chose to go the power purchase agreement route. last year last said only one power purchase agreement was settled for a project.

“i’ll proudly say this as a ceo of a solar company, i think it would be ludicrous to repeal the direct pay,” last said.