Curbing Capitol Hill Emissions No Easy Task

Map It:  Capitol South 

A THIRD OF ALL GREENHOUSE GASES emitted from the Capitol campus comes from its power plant off South Capitol Street. And in an era of Democratic rule on Capitol Hill and heightened interest in environmental sustainability, the power plant — which has been cited repeatedly for violating the Clean Air Act — has been targeted for clean-up, as The Post's Lyndsey Layton reported last month.

But making the District's second-biggest polluter and making the congressional complex carbon neutral, as some lawmakers want, is easier said than done. This morning in Roll Call, we get a picture of the factors that are coming into play. Critics point to West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd's continued support of the use of coal to fuel the plant. Additionally, the Architect of the Capitol's office tells Roll Call even if lawmakers would make a move against coal and mandate an energy change, switching to lower-emission fuels is complex, potentially expensive and would require major upgrades to the power plant.

» "Reliance on Coal Sullies 'Green the Capitol' Effort" [WaPo]
» "Hill Wants Cleaner Power Plant" [Roll Call, subscription req'd]

Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post