Will Victims Actually See Money From BP Escrow Fund?

Here is this week's column for NetGreen News. All my columns are here.

With BP liable for a mere $75 million under federal law for paying oil-spill victims, President Obama recently announced the formation of a $20 billion escrow fund.

BP will have to pay damage claims out of this fund, which will in turn by administered independently by former Treasury Department "compensation czar" Kenneth Feinberg. BP will only have a say in claims of $500,000 or more.

One of the main goals of the fund is for shrimpers, fishers, and property owners to file for reimbursement through the fund rather than through lawsuits aimed at the oil company. This sounds like a smart course to take, and Feinberg certainly has the experience to lead the efforts, but just how successful have escrow funds been over the years?

This funding will be especially difficult to judge, as many businesses will have to prove their losses over tricky timelines with many gray quantifying areas.

But it can be done. Despite a major assault on the way he launched into thankless work on the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, Feinberg eventually won over most of his critics and the fund paid out $7 billion to 97 percent of those affected. About 7,400 claimants received an average of $2 million each, certainly not the value of a loved one's life, but not bad either.

The Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 includes provisions for company-financed escrow accounts for recalls. U.S. government escrow efforts have also been largely successful in accompanying reviews of troubling assets in bank-executive compensation packages and in tobacco litigation.

While not a government-backed escrow fund, $8 million in donations appears to have been distributed successfully to those most in need in the aftermath of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, which Feinberg also oversaw.

Only time will tell whether the escrow account is a government "shakedown," in the words of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce top Republican and chief anti-Earth spokesperson Joe Barton, or extremely smart handling by the Obama administration of corporate excess.

If history is a judge, the one-stop administered fund will better benefit victims and reduce lawyer fees in comparison to a one-by-one court-case handling of victim compensation. Even BP itself and, surprisingly, the American Petroleum Institute, have not fought the need for the $20 billion fund.

Novel, Part #12

The novel's two main characters, young Paul and rock star Rory, continue their conversation over drinks and pie at Admiller's Deli. For the rest of the start of the book, go here.

We ordered two slices of blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream. Rory got a coffee and I had a Coke.

Rory asked, ”So what are you all about?”

“Um, I’m starting Papersville High next month and I cut lawns, mostly my own and Universal’s.”
“OK, so those are the official things. But what do you like? What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, I like American Top 40, so I guess that means I like music. I like to read. I finished Gone With the Wind and The Fountainhead this summer.”

“The classics. The Fountainhead, eh? Ayn Rand. So does that mean you want to work on Wall Street and crunch numbers or be some fancy-pants architect or lawyer and make tons of money?”

“No.”

“Well, good. We can still be friends,” he laughed.

“Don’t you make a lot of money?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I like other people who make lots of money. In fact, so many people around me are trying so hard to make a buck off me that it makes it hard to figure out who my friends are. Remember, I may seem like an artifact to you, but to the people on the business side of my life, I’m still a rookie kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. And I still need friends. I’ve met a lot of fellow musicians and rock stars who I consider friends, but I don’t hang out with them in, umm, natural ways, you know? And when I lived here, I actually got made fun of quite a bit. I didn’t fit in and sort of kept in my own world. I used to draw rock stars and imagine what I would be like as one of them. My older sister listened to good music and taught me how to play guitar. That first guitar – I still have it – has been my best friend for a long time.”

I added, “I don’t have a guitar, and I probably don’t have anyone who would be considered my best friend. I’m not sure I relate to people here, but I’m not sure I’m better than people here either, like I think you probably are.”

“I don’t know about that. In another time and mindset, this place might not be exactly as it seems.”

Zeitoun is Eggers' True-Crime Masterpiece

Hard to believe it's been nearly five years since Hurricane Katrina brought New Orleans to its knees. It's easy to forget how one of this decade's three massively destructive events hampered our way of life in the U.S. (the others being 9/11 and the Gulf oil spill).

I remember thinking The Big Easy probably wouldn't recover, but I was wrong. That's not to say it's safe in the long run, speaking from an engineering standpoint.

As a communications professional, I talk a lot about the importance of telling a good human story, and most of the stories coming out of New Orleans were about groups of people trying to evacuate, looters, and deplorable conditions in the mass housing of the Superdome. But Dave Eggers brings a powerhouse tale about one family that offers the best (albeit a very narrow) view of life in the aftermath of the storm.

Zeitoun, the protagonist (pictured above) and title of the book, is the Syrian-American owner of a local contracting business who decides to stay while his American-born and Muslim-converted wife Kathy leaves with the kids for Houston and points beyond. Zeitoun becomes a real hero as he paddles his canoe around town to save old ladies and dogs from sure death.

The characters are rounded with full backstories of Zeitoun's early life growing up in Syria with an older brother known as one of the world's great ocean swimmers and Kathy's journey from her life as a little girl growing up in Baton Rouge.

The tale takes unexpected twists that seem too horrifying to be true. The events that unfold for Zeitoun supply true-crime journalism for this era that is every bit as powerful as Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was at the founding of the genre.

Part of the mystery is whether all the bad things that the National Guard and FEMA perpetrated upon some of the people who remained in the city after the storm happened because of post-9/11 Middle East profiling or simply out of gross incompetence.

This is a must-read for any American. It should help anyone sympathize with the struggles and everyday concerns faced by recent immigrants to this country. The book puts a human face on both a tragedy and a complex and interesting family.

Eggers' masterpiece may very well be Zeitoun, which is not easy to say considering that he penned A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

***** out of ***** stars

Top Director Soderbergh Takes a Light Approach on Corporate Scandal

Variety aptly called The Informant! "the wacky little brother of Erin Brockovich."

Matt Damon is his usual excellent self as Archer Daniels Midland executive Mark Whitacre, a man who rationalizes his way into becoming a long-time mole for the FBI in ADM's real-life lysine additive price-fixing scandal of the 1990s.

Damon is part of the top brass at the food-processing conglomerate and seems like an innocent, hard-working man from Midwestern Decatur, Illinois. His aspirations to become CEO become unhinged by what we later learn to be some serious mental bipolar issues.

The movie is based on journalist Kurt Eichenwald's articles in The New York Times about ADM. His other two books include one about the defrauding of 340,000 people by Prudential Securities and another about Enron called Conspiracy of Fools.

The Informant! is most interesting because of the light-hearted take on real-life events and a healthy dose of comedic actors like Joel McHale and Patton Oswalt playing somewhat-serious roles.

Much of this success is due to director Steven Soderbergh, who adds to his excellent portfolio of works such as Sex, Lies, and Videotape; Out of Sight; The Limey; Traffic; Ocean's Eleven; Bubble; and the above-mentioned Erin Brockovich. He is certainly one of cinema's top five directors.

***1/2 out of ***** stars

Novel, Part #11

The novel's two main characters, young Paul and rock star Rory, have just met and bonded a little bit. For the rest of the start of the book, go here.

Chapter 6

During the impressive and melodic solo performance by Rory, I could see that I clearly liked his music and his worldview. He switched from singing about space exploration to global causes to the pains and pleasures of love effortlessly, sometimes in the same song. He even looked over and smiled at me a couple of times. Luckily, my shift was over and it was alright for me to stick around and enjoy the show for free. I think the other people attending had paid to get in.

I took the effort to stick around afterwards to say goodbye to Rory and tell him how much I liked his music, and to maybe have him sign the records some of his friends had given to me. To my surprise, he asked if I wanted to go get some coffee and pie at Admiller’s Deli, not something I would turn down doing with my worst enemy.

After ordering from our corner booth near the window, Rory asked, “That went well, don’t you think, Paul?”

“Yes, I really like your music, Rory,” I paused. “What was that one about staring at Earth about? It was weird, but I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Cool. Yeah, that’s my one take at prog rock. Progressive rock. You know, like the more spaced-out elements of Zeppelin, or like Yes or Fleetwood Mac. I wrote it three years ago when Earth Day was starting up. I thought about what Earth must have looked like to the astronauts on the Moon. You know, this life-giving force of a planet. It must have been impossible for them to miss just how fragile our systems are, and how the green trees feed off the blue waters and the clouds in the sky. Having that image should make everyone on this planet realize that we’ve got to start taking care of it one of these days.

“I actually got my start playing a festival with the Mac when Peter Green freaked out on LSD and started slipping into schizophrenia. I was one of many fill-ins for him. But, man, it was a great experience, and they totally helped me into the biz. And it was just because I had offered to help lift their equipment at a gig down in the city and ended up hanging around with them all night. My parents weren’t too happy, but I even played some of my songs for Christie McVie and Mick Fleetwood and they said they were floored. They must have been because I got to play them again at the big Earth Day Fest not too long afterwards, thanks to Mick pulling some strings. That was enough for me to get all kinds of offers from people who wanted to play in my band and, voila, here I am. Local boy done good.”

“Wow, it sounds so easy.”

“Well, I worked hard on writing songs before all that. And I worked really hard to make sure they sounded perfect once I was more or less put under deadline by the demands of the Mac.”

New Pornographers Hold Evangelical Indie Sermon at DC's 9:30 Club

My first New Pornographers concert was quite a treat, as the all-star band played an impressive greatest-hits set list from across their five-album, 11-year career.

Performing for a packed house at DC's 9:30 Club last night (the first of a two-night stand in leader Carl Newman's "favorite city to perform in"), the show suffered early from the band's strong but sometimes-samey-sounding catalog. There was little emotion in the first hour and the songs meandered along at med-tempo, almost no tempo. Still, there was the carnivalesque keyboards humming underneath the songs that kept promise alive.

This pacing actually made the early-evening slow ballads like the acoustic-Western stylings of "Adventures in Solitude" and "Challengers," with its almost tribal harmonies, really stand out.

But as the airplane roar increased and the emotional heat began to build, the second 60 minutes of the show found a band in its prime. Even the super-serious Neko Case (one of three, or four, lead singers) loosened up and clearly began to have fun, cracking up the whole way through a song in which she couldn't get the image of "Canada's population of five hermaphrodites," discussed during previous between-song banter, out of her head.

Newman showed off his light-hearted everyman sense of humor by introducing the keyboardist and saxophonist as former members of Huey Lewis and the News. The band also played an Eagles riff as spaceman sideman Dan Bejar (a mix of Sideshow Bob and the fourth Bee Gee) entered the stage at one point (he only appeared on a half-dozen songs or so, leaving the audience to wonder what he could have possibly been doing backstage all that time).

The New Pornographers saved their best songs, which are almost entirely uptempo compared to the bulk of their catalog, for the end. Bejar's new "Silver Jenny Dollar," the punk-rock Sesame Street of "Mass Romantic," a brief Ben's Chili Bowl (legendary DC restaurant) theme song, "Slow Descent Into Alcoholism," "The Laws Have Changed," and "A Letter From and Occupant" sent the crowd home ecstatically happy.

Listen to the concert at NPR.

****1/2 out of ***** stars

A Way to Help Construction Workers and Prevent a Commercial Real Estate Collapse

I've started doing some freelance PR consulting, which is really a great experience. My first project is to get some press for a Santa Fe non-profit called Architecture 2030. Here is the press release we issued today:

NEW PLAN WOULD HELP CONGRESS CREATE 1.3 MILLION JOBS, AVERT IMMINENT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE CRISIS

SANTA FE, NM (June 22, 2010) – A tax incentive for business owners that would avoid the looming commercial real estate loan crisis while creating 1.3 million jobs is detailed for the first time in a report released today.

“This report is the first to illustrate how dramatic job creation through limited energy efficiency tax incentives can prevent a meltdown in the commercial real estate market,” said Edward Mazria, CEO of Architecture 2030, the leading building sector energy research organization. “Without a swift plan from Congress, the commercial real estate (CRE) crisis could cripple the economic recovery, raise unemployment, and lead to scores of small business and community and regional bank failures.”

Mazria is a co-author of the report, titled “The Imminent Commercial Real Estate Crisis and The CRE Solution.” The report, which recommends a three-year, tiered tax incentive tied to specific energy reduction targets, is being released at a critical time.

CRE transactions have dropped a staggering 90 percent since 2007. Between now and 2014, $1.4 trillion in CRE loans are coming due; more than half of these are currently underwater. Commercial property values have plummeted by more than 40 percent, and commercial vacancies rates continue to increase. By April, the construction industry had lost more than 2 million jobs, with another 35,000 jobs lost in May, mostly in the commercial building sector. Also, at the end of May, the FDIC reported that its "problem bank list" had grown from 702 to 775 since the end of the 2009 fourth quarter.

Congress can simultaneously address the looming CRE crisis and crippling construction unemployment through “The CRE Solution.” This can be jumpstarted quickly by building upon the existing Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction (26 U.S.C. 179(d)) from $1.80 per square foot to a range of $3 to $9 per square foot for new and existing commercial buildings meeting specific energy reduction targets.

For each $6 billion of deferred CRE revenue, for example, “The CRE Solution” would generate $73.4 billion in new private spending, $15.9 billion in new federal tax revenue, and $5.25 billion in state and local government tax revenue, according to the report findings.

The report concludes that “The CRE Solution” would:

· Create 1.3 million jobs, quickly and cost-effectively
· Decrease building sector energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
· Increase after-tax cash flow and property values, and reduce loan defaults
· Increase new CRE sales, desirability, and investment value
· Generate billions of dollars in federal, state, and local revenue

“Employed strategically, energy efficiency tax incentives can be multiplied significantly to reduce CRE loan defaults, stimulate CRE transactions, boost commercial building construction, and increase commercial property values,” added Kristina Kershner, President of Architecture 2030 and a co-author of the report.

The 14-page report can be viewed at www.architecture2030.org

– 30 –

About Architecture 2030
Architecture 2030 is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit research organization focused on achieving a dramatic reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed, constructed and renovated.

Gruesome Playground Injuries Makes Stars Out of Woolly Mammoth Cast

The best thing about Gruesome Playground Injuries, which just wrapped up an extended run at DC's Woolly Mammoth Theater, is that it's a star-making vehicle.

The rigors that face any two actors who win the two roles in this play are monumental. And Tim Getman and Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey (in a role originally performed by Selma Blair in the play's Houston debut) are monumentally great as lifelong friends who take care of each other while the world continually kicks them down.

Performed in the round of an ice rink, Getman and Fernandez-Coffey rarely leave the stage, making occasional trips to their makeup and costume areas while the audience watches and indie-rock, such as I'm From Barcelona, blares.

The physical workout these two go through is a joy to watch, as is the first hour, a hilarious comedy about how people sometimes have their timing all wrong and never quite connect, even when their fate of togetherness seems like it should be so clear.

The only problem with this already-short (at 90 minutes) production is that it overstays its welcome. Once we've already gotten the messages, Gruesome Playground Injuries continues to pound them in too forcefully. The laughs dry up in the final 30 as the story descends into a melodrama that I didn't see coming at all. It's strange that "bad-boy" playwright Rajiv Joseph would shift gears so dramatically.

That said, Getman and Fernandez-Coffey have arrived. As if these two young stars weren't already shining lights on the DC theater scene, this performance puts both at the top of the game. My advice: don't miss anything either of these two are in from now on.

**** out of ***** stars

Apple's Most Ingenius iPhone App Yet

OK, the iPhone is amazing and there are lots of great applications.

Who can argue with News Fuse (which offers dozens of newspapers in one app, although I still prefer just getting my news through Google Reader on the Safari app), FourTrack (for my big-studio recording sessions any time my mind comes up with a song-snippet idea), and BlogWriter (which allows me to post photos and stories on my blog from anywhere in the world)?

But I've discovered the most ingenious app of all. Created by Apple, Remote is a remote control on your iPhone for your iTunes library from anywhere within wireless range of the computer where your library resides.

Unlike some apps, this one works flawlessly and takes about 30 seconds to set up. No more constant opening of your laptop or running back to your computer desk to change tunes. I was sitting on my front porch the other day and flipping from song to song as the music flowed out the front door.

Remote also creates great mixes from you library and allows you to rate songs from your iPhone. The information on the app is completely synched with you iTunes homebase.

Just another reason I will probably always remain a Mac man.

Obama's Dirty Shoes and Environmental Naivety

Here's my weekly environment column for NetGreen News. You can see all my columns here.

A little more than a year ago, I thought it was strange that President Obama showed up in fancy dress shoes at an Earth Day event that my wife was leading. He got mud on them while planting trees. Well, no duh.

Now, finally, he shows up on our Southern beaches nearly 60 days after Deepwater Horizon began spoiling the Gulf of Mexico. And it seems he may have gotten the memo. The work boots he's wearing in all his photo-ops look appropriate for the dirty job of cleaning up this mess.

Obama's boots also present a striking image of what's tragically become of these beaches, long white-sand stretches that used to be places for only sandals and bare feet.

This anecdote of Obama's footwear supports Maureen Dowd's June 15 column about the oil spill in The New York Times. She concludes:

"President Obama’s bloodless quality about people and events, the emotional detachment that his aides said allowed him to see things more clearly, has instead obscured his vision. It has made him unable to understand things quickly on a visceral level and put him on the defensive in this spring of our discontent, failing to understand that Americans are upset that a series of greedy corporations have screwed over the little guy without enough fierce and immediate pushback from the president."

I still vividly remember the hope I felt on the Mall in Washington DC the day Obama was inaugurated. And history will certainly show that he has been an improvement upon the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush. But that's an extremely low bar.

Obama has done an admirable job with the economic stimulus and health-care package. But he must find a way to quickly produce more economic relief, reverse the high unemployment rate, establish meaningful climate and energy policies, and take control of the Gulf quagmire.

Obama's national address on the Gulf response this week was uplifting, but like figuring out how to wear the appropriate footwear, it came disturbingly late. To say that we will "fight this spill with everything we've got" so long after the spill began seems almost laughable.

He was correct to classify the nation's worst-ever environmental disaster as a call to action to pass meaningful climate and energy legislation. Now is the time for oil companies like BP and ExxonMobil to gain incentives and work with government bureaus like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals Management Service to make massive transitions toward cleaner energy production.

And while it pains me to join the bandwagon of disapproval for Obama, it's getting more difficult to stomach the Obama bumper sticker on the back of my car. I remember wondering how people could still have Bush/Cheney bumper stickers eight years after they were elected. Now I'm beginning to wonder the same thing about myself so soon into Obama's first term.