Executive Vice President, The Saint Consulting Group

As a Urban Land Institute (ULI)  member and California resident, I found it interesting that ULI decided to nationally endorse SB375, a California bill that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Golden State.

Not that I am supportive or against the legislation, but I am more unsure of how it is going to be interpreted by California lawmakers and courts.  Of note, the current Republican gubernatorial candidate and likely nominee, Meg Whitman, has called for a moratorium on AB 32, the 2006 California law that calls for lowering emissions standards by 25 percent.

As The Saint Report published last June, the success of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, known as AB 32, depends largely on how subsequent law SB 375, the land use and planing portion of this bill adopted in 2008, will be implemented to reduce emissions, and the targets discussed by the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC).

The San Francisco Chronicle outlines the ULI endorsement here.

Can someone help me understand what exactly we are endorsing?

Jesse McKnight is executive vice president of The Saint Consulting Group, email mcknight@tscg.biz or phone 510 279-4271

As Tim Dickinson writes in the blog Outside Online, “The conservationists fighting renewable-energy development need to wake up and smell the wind and solar power. Now.”

He points out that conservationists who have fought developers all their lives aren’t giving in. A manifesto from a group calling themselves People Only Wanting Energy Responsibility (POWER!) declared: “Big Solar, wind farms, hydroelectric plants, along with the necessary transmission lines are nothing less than Domestic Terrorism being perpetrated on…our Desert Southwest’s premier wildlands.”

Click here for full Outside Online post.

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president for energy for The Saint Consulting Group, email: kelahan@tscg.biz phone 703 442-8624

The US Chamber’s website Project No Project documents energy projects around the country that have faced resistance at the grassroots, among them dozens of clean and renewable energy projects.

As Keith Schneider points out, “My friends and colleagues in the environmental community and the clean energy development community tell me that almost every clean energy project of any size and scale is running headlong into civic opposition that in most cases is led by local environmental groups. The only region that appears to be ready to accept big clean energy projects is the South, where a colleague says she hasn’t picked up any signs of resistance.”

Click here for full post in Climate Change Media Partnership.

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president for energy for The Saint Consulting Group, email kelahan@tscg.biz , phone

The end may be in sight for part of the recession that has devastated sections of the mining industry over the past three years. Cemex and Vulcan Materials both recorded increased sales in April and are projected to have a further increase in May, according to Bloomberg Business Week.

The sales rise by two of the largest limestone producers in the United States was a result of increased housing starts and rail shipments of crushed stone. Production is expected to increase in the second half of 2010 as large portions of the $27 billion in stimulus funds authorized for highway and bridge repair comes on line.

This news comes on top of predictions that metals mining exploration will increase by as much as 40 percent in 2010. The increased spending in exploration is being driven by the stable price of gold and copper worldwide,  according to a Reuters report.

Click here for Bloomberg Business Week article.

Christopher Hopkins is senior vice president for aggregates and mining for The Saint Consulting Group, email: hopkins@tscg.biz, phone 615-656-3794

By Ben Kelahan
Senior Vice President, The Saint Report

Land agents.  Whether it’s acquiring the land necessary for a wind farm development or gas drilling operation, land agents serve a vital role for the energy industry to assemble the project footprint necessary to generate and produce the electricity and fuel we need to continually be powered up.  

As a firm devoted to managing political opposition on the ground, educating stakeholders and determining strategies for countering misinformation about these projects, we have a great deal of respect for land agents. In many cases they represent the first project educators and representatives on the ground in a community while putting the land pieces of the project puzzle together. 

But land agents also serve a vital role in community outreach and understanding the political pressures and landowner dynamics out in the field.  In some case their communications serve as an early phase in development that feed the political momentum and stakeholder curiosity behind a project. Many aspects of such community outreach in land use politics are covered in our Saint University corporate training programs (see more below). 

Our land use political teams help determine potential political fatal flaws in projects, plan winning  ground campaigns and implement and manage field efforts for clients. We often work hand in hand with land agents in the early phases of some permitting efforts based on their detailed understanding of landowners and their concerns.  They can be valuable information sources and community liaisons.

We also join projects where land agent activities have gone awry, and the first order of our business is to pick up the pieces. Just as there are good and bad political consultants and public relations firms out there, there are also good and bad land agents.  Don’t get me wrong – land use agents have a job to do.  A very important one.  However, with increased access to information, sophisticated strategies and inquiring minds, opposition to these projects can quickly determine what’s being proposed before it’s applied for.  That might not be the highest and best use of their services without the appropriate training to manage those circumstances appropriately to avoid announcing a project prematurely and erroneously to key stakeholders.

The best approach is to make sure land agents understand the value of stakeholder acceptance as well as cutting a land deal and put together early collaborative planning and conversations between land acquisition, development and public outreach teams. Where possible one should have a comprehensive training to make sure each component knows the value of the other and can clear the path toward an easy layup for approvals.

Saint University is the educational wing of The Saint Consulting Group, the world leader in Land Use Politics. Saint University offers corporate training and professional development seminars. Courses on managing the politics of land use can be custom-tailored by University faculty to fit the needs of any industry or professional discipline.
Click here for information about corporate education and the Saint University curriculum. 

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president for energy, The Saint Consulting Group, email kelahan@tscg.biz and phone 703 442 8624  

In the recent publication of EnergyBiz, Procario, President and CEO of American Transmission Company reviews the power of public outreach and stakeholder acceptance in building political support for siting transmission lines across the country. 

It’s a good thing leaders like Procario are utilizing these best practices in their approval processes given the “don’t hold your breath” status of more Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority coming out of the energy bill being considered on Capitol Hill.

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president for energy for The Saint Consulting Group, email kelahan@tscg.biz phone 703.442.8624

Given the project’s continued struggles to begin construction and the advancement of other proposed projects along the Eastern seaboard, it seems unlikely that Cape Wind will be the first U.S. offshore wind farm to begin operations.

In SNL Energy’s latest podcast, Benjamin Kelahan, senior vice president and leader of The Saint Consulting Group’s energy practice, discusses why more states are throwing their support behind the offshore wind industry and how Cape Wind has helped lay the groundwork for other proposed projects. Kelahan says that although he remains cautiously optimistic about the sector, the costs associated with such facilities are a formidable hurdle to the sector.

Click on the link to hear the full podcast. For other Saint Report posts on wind energy, click here

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president for energy for The Saint Consulting Group, email kelahan@tscg.biz, phone  703.442.8624

By Christopher Hopkins
Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining, The Saint Consulting Group

Numerous arguments are made for and against mining. Public debate typically focuses on mining’s impacts on the environment, the economy, the landscape, home values and impacts on communities. Virtually ignored, however, is how the decline in mining in the United States affects national security.

When forced to consider mining’s contributions to national security, most people will identify the usual suspects — oil, natural gas, uranium and coal.  All are vitally important.

But it’s time for Americans to consider a different type of mining, what is often referred to as “rare earth” mineral mining. These are some of the world’s most obscure but valuable minerals, 15 elements used in a variety of ways to produce products that are vital to national defense, our economic future, our technological future, and even our environmental future.

The so-called rare earth minerals include such elements as lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, dysprosium and erbium. These minerals and the other nine are key in the production of essential products used every day. They are key ingredients in everything from the sonar radar used on Navy warships and submarines to the hydride batteries used to run the latest hybrid automobiles.

For example, the magnets required to operate a single wind turbine are composed of two tons of rare earth materials. According to a recent Reuters article, the Toyota Prius is fast becoming the largest user of rare earth minerals in the world. A Prius uses 2.2 pounds of neodymium for lightweight magnets that help power the electric motor, and 22 pounds of lanthanum in the battery. As Toyota seeks to increase productivity and fuel economy, these amounts will double.

China holds 53 percent of the world supply and currently produces 95 percent of the rare earths mined. But in each of the last three years, China has reduced the amount of rare earths that can be exported. Western governments and multinational corporations alike are alarmed by the possibility that China will further restrict exports. The Telegraph of London reported in August that China was considering a total ban on export of several of the rare earth minerals.

Just one active rare earth mineral mine is operating outside China (it’s in Australia). A second mine is scheduled to begin mining in Mountain Pass, California, in 2011. Mountain Pass had been an active mine until the early 1990s when China flooded the mineral market, driving down the price to the point where it was no longer profitable to produce.

Even if China wanted to, it cannot in the near future produce the amount of material that will be required across the globe. In 1999, world demand for these materials was around 40,000 metric tons per year; in 2009, that demand grew to 125,000 metric tons. It is estimated that by the year 2014, demand will be 200,000 metric tons.

China’s virtual monopoly of the rare earth mineral sector allows it to manipulate the pricing structure of these minerals, increasing the revenue flowing into China from around the world and its ability to dominate the world economy.

This is recognized as a real threat to our economy and our ability to transition into the “green economy” that is being touted as the world’s next great economic boom. Jim Sims, president of the Western Business Roundtable, predicted that if China stops its exports, wind turbine production would cease entirely within 60 days.

The 47% of the world supply not located in China is primarily located in the United States and Australia. Any new restrictions on mining these minerals in the United States could threaten our future. Neodymium, the key element needed for wind turbines, is located in the Lemhl Pass in Idaho, but the site borders the Lemhl River, one of the largest producing salmon tributaries on the Salmon River. Any attempt to mine this area would undoubtedly meet strong opposition from environmentalists.

There needs to be an understanding and a balance between the environmental community and doing what is needed to ensure our national security, both militarily and economically. The key to the future may lie in the ability of these minerals to be mined in large quantities in the United States, with environmental community coming aboard in these efforts. With these materials being an essential ingredient in the coming green economy, it’s clear there is strong reason for cooperation and agreement on what is rapidly becoming an essential need for our future.

Chris Hopkins is senior vice president for aggregates and mining, The Saint Consulting Group, email hopkins@tscg.biz and phone  615-656-3794

By Ellen Sinreich, President, Green Edge LLC

As we transition from 2009 to 2010 and the start of a new decade, there are a few things to take note of with respect to sustainability and real estate.  Most important, from my perspective, is that over 200 countries are taking part in the United Nations sponsored climate change talks in Copenhagen. Although it is unlikely that a comprehensive climate change treaty will be hammered out at the Copenhagen talks, there is widespread consensus throughout the world that man made climate change is real and that we need to do something significant about it in order to preserve the habitability of our planet for generations to come. 

What does this mean for the real estate industry?  It means that business as usual from a sustainability point of view will put companies, portfolios and individual properties at a competitive disadvantage as market forces and regulatory forces increasingly demand “green”.  Here’s a good year-end example of what the future holds. 

On December 9^th, New York City’s City Council passed the “Greener, Greater Buildings Plan” or “GGBP”. Consisting of four distinct pieces of legislation, the GGBP will require private sector building owners to take a variety of measures to benchmark the energy performance of their buildings, upgrade the lighting in their buildings to energy efficient lighting, submeter tenant electrical consumption, perform energy audits and finally, retrocommission electrical and mechanical systems to identify problems. 

These measures will apply to private sector residential and commercial buildings with over 50,000 square feet: approximately 22,000 buildings that account for about half of the built environment in New York City.  While the original legislation introduced by Mayor Bloomberg in the spring of 2009 called for comprehensive energy efficiency upgrades (if indicated) for these buildings, the commercial real estate sector, hard hit by the current downturn, effectively lobbied against passage of the more comprehensive retrofit requirements.  

GGBP will also require private owners to publicly reveal the energy consumption in their buildings, akin to the easily comparable gas mileage consumption that car manufacturers reveal and the energy consumption labeling that we see on household appliances such as refrigerators.  Buildings that incorporate energy efficient systems and processes can’t help but be at a competitive advantage vis-à-vis their less efficient “peers”.  Intuitively, this should result in lower vacancy rates, lower turnover rates, higher occupancy rates and ultimately higher rental rates, each of which will result in greater asset value for energy efficient or greener buildings.

The ultimate goal is a public/private win-win. NYC reduces its carbon footprint and moves closer to meeting the mandates of PlaNYC 2030: a 30% reduction in New York City’s carbon footprint by 2030.  Private sector owners and tenants enjoy greater efficiencies and profitability. That’s a New Year gift that I can live with. 

Ellen Sinreich is president of Green Edge LLC, a Green Building consulting/law firm that provides strategic sustainability services to businesses and governmental entities. email ellen@greenedgellc.com  web www.greenedgellc  phone  212-828-3840  212-828-3840