The Congressional Record chronicles almost every thing that occurs within the House and Senate. It contains watershed moments comparable to Rep. Barbara Lee’s speech as the one vote in opposition to authorizing the usage of drive in Afghanistan and Sen. Edward Dirksen’s speech that ended up serving to quash a filibuster in opposition to landmark civil rights laws.

Now, it additionally features a declaration of Hot FERC Summer. Rep. Sean Casten, a 49-year-old member of Congress who’s among the many chamber’s most prolific power coverage consultants, has began a campaign to make what is sort of probably probably the most boring, arcane federal company some scorching lady shit by invoking Megan Thee Stallion. Casten kicked off his marketing campaign to pump up the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the FERC in query) on July 20 with a flooring speech opening with the road “Madam Speaker, I trust most of my colleagues have heard of ‘Hot Girl Summer’ and the broader Megan Thee Stallion oeuvre.” (The House’s common age is 57.6 years outdated so the chances are truthfully not good, however I digress.)

Last week, he dropped his second, uh, observe of Hot FERC Summer by invoking FERCalicious, a play on Fergie’s Fergalicious that solely the daddest of pop jokers might love. The so cringe it might really be good marketing campaign has managed to lift the profile of FERC in a means one million articles on arcane rulemaking might by no means do. And the timing couldn’t be extra essential.

The fee in query is helmed by 5 regulators who’re nominated by the president to serve five-year phrases. The commissioners are recognized by political affiliation, and there can by no means be greater than three from one political social gathering. Former President Donald Trump, for instance, needed to nominate a Democratic commissioner throughout his time in workplace. There’s at present an open seat that Biden might nominate a Democrat for as nicely, giving the social gathering a 3-2 majority on the fee.

This issues for a lot of causes. Despite its mind-numbing identify and repute, FERC is a key software for addressing local weather change. Pipelines, excessive voltage energy traces that cross state borders, and extra fall below its purview. If your purpose, because the Biden administration has said, is to take an all-of-government strategy to local weather change and decarbonize the grid by 2035, FERC is a large software to do exactly that. Raising its profile is a few thot shit, is what I’m making an attempt to say.

Casten, who was a clear power entrepreneur earlier than being elected in 2018, has launched a few payments to get FERC to contemplate the carbon prices of polluting infrastructure and pace up allowing. Which is all nicely in good. But the query on most individuals’s minds is: … what’s even occurring right here?

So I hopped on the telephone with Casten this week to resolve Hot FERC Summer and why you must give a rattling. Our dialog that in some way additionally included the Iliad, and Casten’s dream of writing a PhD thesis linking Biggie and Bruce Springsteen. Casten additionally introduced up WAP (the weatherization help program, get your thoughts out of the gutter, you jackals). We didn’t linger on it for too lengthy as I didn’t wish to besmirch a sitting member of Congress’ repute by delving too deeply into the extra, uh, famous WAP. I did ask, although, about his standing as a hottie. A frivolously edited model of our dialog follows.

Brian Kahn, Earther: It looks as if you’re having time with Hot FERC Summer. It’s nice to see members of Congress having fun with their job.

Rep. Sean Casten: It’s a bit surreal. I’m delighted to be at a degree the place massive numbers of Americans, together with folks whose favourite studying outlet is People journal are actually fascinated by what the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is and why it’s so essential. If I do know that was that there was this one web trick to make that occur, I might have accomplished it a very long time in the past.

Earther: Can you discuss just a little bit in regards to the backstory? Where did Hot FERC Summer even come from? How on Earth did you provide you with this?

Casten: If I perceive the Iliad accurately, typically the muse simply lands in your shoulder and whispers poetic majesty. But who is aware of the place these items come from. I’ve acquired two teenage daughters. We’ve acquired lots of 20 somethings on our employees. I’m an enormous fan of hip hop. Generally, these items simply form of got here collectively in bizarre methods.

There’s this bizarre hyperlink, however about two years in the past, I made a joke on Twitter about how a lot I beloved the Weatherization Assistance Program and was delighted that Cardi B was lastly speaking about WAP. [laughs] That didn’t go over nicely.

Earther: I used to be going to ask about WAP, however I didn’t wish to besmirch your repute as a member of Congress. Maybe we are able to circle again on that, although. But I’m curious, why give attention to FERC? We might’ve had Hot Department of Energy Summer. What is it that’s so essential about FERC to get of us engaged?

Casten: If we don’t act like local weather change is the only most essential downside we must be fixing as a authorities, then we don’t perceive the science interval, full cease. Nothing that we’re seeing is inconsistent with what we knew was scientifically going to occur 30 years in the past. We are two-thirds of the way in which to 1.5 levels Celsius (2.7 levels Fahrenheit) of warming, which was the extent that everyone mentioned we’re going to get the actual issues. We’re seeing what these actual issues are. That’s the animating factor that drives this from the again finish.

Coupled with that’s that something we do to meaningfully decarbonize our power sector, which might be basically decarbonizing the financial system, means we get cheaper power each time. FERC is actually uniquely positioned to be the company that may actually drive the decarbonization, definitely of the electrical sector, and perhaps past that as industries would demand lots of low cost electrical energy are going to seek out it far more engaging to be within the U.S. if we make low cost power round. 

The purpose for FERC particularly past that’s that—and I’ve had this dialog, I had this dialog with each Democratic candidate operating for president final 12 months—all of them have been saying the local weather was a high precedence, and I used to be saying to them, OK, if schooling was your high precedence, I might care who you have been going to call as your secretary of schooling. If well being care was your high precedence, I’d care who you have been going to [put] in as your head of HHS. If local weather is your high precedence, there isn’t any single company that controls this. If you don’t even have a authorities construction that’s organized to deal with local weather, the place’s the utmost level of leverage? That’s FERC.

Earther: What is FERC not at present doing that it must be doing if it desires to be critical about decarbonization?

Casten: The first and most essential factor we might want to nominate somebody to the fifth seat. None of what FERC can and will do is feasible till we get the power to have three two votes with people who find themselves going to prioritize the pursuits of power shoppers over the pursuits of power producers.

That’s primary. What FERC can do is 2 enormous issues. Everybody is aware of we’ve an enormous, large downside constructing electrical transmission traces on this nation. That’s a allowing downside. That’s a siting downside. That’s a management downside. That’s a value allocation downside. Almost all of these issues could possibly be addressed within the FERC context.

The second large factor—and that is in my Energy Price Act—is that when FERC was created, their mandate included various issues, together with however not restricted to creating positive that power is inexpensive. FERC really has it inside their current energy to be sure that as we construct new technology, as we construct new transmission, we prioritize technology sources that aren’t going to hurt future generations. They might do this proper now, they don’t want any Congressional motion. They simply want a nudge.

Earther: I wish to carry Megan Thee Stallion again into our dialogue. She’s rapped about going arduous for youths, her mama, and her granny. I feel that will get at a number of the belongings you’re speaking about right here, which is this concept of needing to maintain costs affordable for folk right this moment but in addition decarbonizing the grid for future generations. What wouldn’t it seem like for FERC, or actually the federal authorities, to go arduous for all these of us?

Casten: There’s no rigidity between these issues. Absolutely none. Energy Secretary Granholm has mentioned we have to construct basically as a lot electrical energy technology on this nation as we have already got in an effort to absolutely decarbonize. That’s some huge cash. But what are we going to construct to decarbonize? We’re going to construct photo voltaic, we’re going to construct wind, we’re going to construct geothermal, we’re going to offer companies an incentive to put money into extra environment friendly home equipment and better-insulated houses. All these issues don’t have any marginal gas price. There is no person who has a photo voltaic panel on the roof who says I higher verify the worth of energy right this moment to see if it is smart for me to run my photo voltaic panel.

I can’t emphasize that time strongly sufficient: We have sat on our thumbs and accomplished mainly nothing for 30 years primarily based on a totally false premise that we are able to’t afford to behave. The actuality is that each time we’ve gone out—and I say this from private expertise, I constructed 80 clear power tasks—I by no means constructed a mission as a result of my buyer cared in regards to the atmosphere. I constructed these tasks as a result of my prospects need cheaper, extra dependable power. Let’s embrace that and provides folks what they need. And, oh, by the way in which, that can even look out for future generations.

But that is the rub: That will create an enormous switch of wealth from power producers to power shoppers. Every single American is an power shopper, however there are robust vested energy teams on this nation that signify power producers.

Earther: Can you inform me just a little bit about that? You talked on Dave Roberts’ Volts podcast final week about this wealth switch concept that will additionally switch wealth from purple states that produce fossil fuels to blue states. What does that wealth switch seem like and the way will we be sure that after we do that transition, it’s honest?

Casten: Anybody who’s been within the clear power business has deep scars on their again from combating electrical utilities. The electrical utilities would battle again with each software of their software equipment to guard their buyers. We have seen in real-time during the last three many years play out.

To your query a couple of simply transition, we noticed what occurred after we went from counting on one muscle energy to mechanical energy. When the coal business went from males in mines to longwall mining [a mechanized form of mining], they acquired much more power with lots fewer folks.

I don’t wish to identify names, however a colleague of mine who’s a Republican who represents one in all these affected communities and is mostly man, I mentioned to him, , if I got here up with a invoice the place you misplaced $100 and I gained $1,000, I can utterly perceive why you wouldn’t vote for the invoice and say, I’m delighted to say that we’ve grown the financial system. The means we handle that political downside is by saying, OK, if we’re going to, in my instance, create $900 of financial worth, let’s be sure that we equitably allocate that financial worth in order that my Republican pal can say excellent news, we’ve grown the financial system by $900 and $450 of it’s sticking with us.

Earther: I do know I’ve to allow you to go to your subsequent interview quickly, which I assume is with Billboard or Fader, so let’s do a fast lightning spherical of questions. Are you a Megan Thee Stallion Fan? Would you take into account your self a hottie?

Casten: I’d wish to imagine my complete household considers me one of many hotties.

Earther: I hope so to your sake, too.

Casten: One of my first live shows was Public Enemy. I’ve all the time skewed extra in the direction of the extra socially acutely aware hip hop. I really like Kendrick Lamar. But, I can go along with a number of the poppier, sexier stuff as nicely.

Earther: I’m an enormous Kendrick fan. I really discuss him in a category I train on local weather communication to indicate how you should utilize storytelling to speak about large points like federal drug coverage and the Reagan conflict on medicine in methods which are far more partaking than a textbook.

Casten: I’ve a Ph.D. thesis I’ll sometime write. Biggie Smalls “Gimme the Loot” is chapter two of Bruce Springsteen’s “Meeting Across the River.” If you take heed to “Gimme the Loot” and “Born to Run,” it’s the identical character. Go take heed to the 2 lyrics.

Earther: Is this your dream after Congress?

Casten: Exactly, a level in music criticism.

Earther: Once you’ve mounted FERC, this looks as if retirement mission. OK, so we’ve some nice Congressional flooring charts, together with your album covers for Hot FERC Summer and Fercalicious. Is there somebody in your employees who comes up with these?

Casten: We have some distinctive employees. They by no means stop to amaze me with the stuff they carry collectively. Somebody requested what it will take for one to personal a type of charts. I assured them that the National Archives goes to place them in a climate-controlled field subsequent to the Constitution. It’s for posterity.

Earther: Fair. It’s the place they belong. It’s wonderful that Hot FERC Summer can also be a part of the Congressional Record. Some of the protection has been humorous as nicely. The Independent’s headline was “Congressman Attempts to Make Climate Action Relevant.” This is an informative factor that you just’re doing, but in addition takes some extent of simply being prepared to place your self on the market. How do you’re feeling about having your legacy together with Hot FERC Summer?

Casten: If on the finish of this folks care about FERC and FERC will get absolutely staffed they usually do that stuff and the worth that I pay is just a little little bit of minor embarrassment? I’ll take that day-after-day of the week. It’s not a tough alternative.

Earther: OK, final query. Megan requested “eco-friendly hotties” in 2019 to provide you with concepts for the way to defend the local weather. She shared a listing of concepts, which was cool. I ask you as someone that’s doing their half as an eco-friendly hottie pumping up FERC, what can different eco-friendly hotties do to agitate for good issues to occur at FERC?

Casten: I’m going to be sincere: Numerous my colleagues, even on my facet of the aisle, haven’t labored as arduous on this subject as they need to. Youth activism, making folks understand that that is one thing that voters and folks care about—and never simply that you need to do the correct factor, however you higher do one thing that’s good. That’s actually good. Keep up that strain up.

What we do as people makes us really feel good, however what issues is what we do collectively. The most essential factor folks can do is to determine how you’re taking no matter social capital you might have and leverage it. I’m a member of Congress. I can leverage that by getting folks to care about these items and passing payments.

Take out your recycling; end up the lights if you go away the room; should you can afford to purchase an electrical automobile or photo voltaic panels, do this. But that ain’t sufficient. Right. Figure out the way to leverage the teams you’re in as a result of it’s going to take all of us pulling in the identical route.

Earther: Eco-friendly hotties band collectively. That’s phrases to reside by.