Our Man in Paris, Part 6
Matthew Hanna is a rising fourth-year student from Atlanta, majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in engineering business. This summer, he is participating in the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Science and Technology Policy Internship Program, which places student interns with policymaking organizations at home and abroad. Hanna is working in Paris with the National Science Foundation’s Europe Office and with the U.S. embassy, and has agreed to send back regular reports for the UVA Today News Blog.
June 28-July 4: Wow! This was a busy but exciting week leading up to having the day off Friday in observance of July 4th.
On Tuesday, I accompanied an economics officer from the Embassy to a first meeting at the Commission on Energy Regulation, or CRE in French. This organization has been charged with overseeing the privatization and separation of the French electricity market, while also ensuring compatibility and cooperation with European electricity frameworks. I was also able to gain insight into smart electricity grid metering and its deployment in France, which directly contributes to my research.
Thursday was without a doubt the peak of the week, as I started the day with a meeting I’d been very much looking forward to. I spent the morning discussing the challenges that France and the U.S. face in implementing sustainable development policies with Vincent Renard, a senior researcher at the National Science Research Center for City Programs at Sciences Po.
A very accomplished economist and someone who has thought about sustainable development far longer than most, Mr. Renard offered a realistic perspective on the issue. He has a keen ability to pinpoint the practical barriers that explain the difficulties in realizing the seemingly universal goal of preventing climate change and was able to explain the effects of government structure, problems in aligning the issue as to incorporate it into everyday life, and technological hurdles.
Straight from there, I ran to the U.S. Ambassador’s residence to volunteer at the Embassy’s official July 4th reception, observed on July 2. A tradition amongst U.S. embassies, the reception was a magnificent event held to welcome the Embassy’s constituency here in Paris. This was followed that evening by a community barbeque for the Embassy employees, where I was able to participate in one of my favorite activities: manning the grill!
Borna and I then took advantage of the long weekend and our location by checking sights off our lists in Paris and traveling to Epernay, a city literally built on champagne. The hills under the city have hundreds of kilometers of tunnels with a climate perfect for fermenting the sparkling wines, which can only be called “champagne” if it comes from this region.
Some photos:
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DigitalFeed.Info » Blog Archive » Our Man in Paris, Part 6 | July 16, 2009 @ 2:27 pm
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