CHAPTER 1
Using Science
Three Generations of Winston Men
Born in 1937, Marcus Winston was a late depression baby. Contrary to the mass of the unfortunate, he fell right into the lap of luxury. His father Joseph was a banker and real estate investor who made out like a bandit in those hard times. Joseph made his fortune in New York City, the center of the financial universe, but when President Roosevelt executed a large-scale shift of power to government, he moved his family to Washington where the action was. With land and property prices low, he obtained a multi-acre estate in Georgetown for a pittance and, after gutting the existing structure while retaining its frame of Republican Architecture, he built a gloriously lavish mansion that virtually exuded taste and wealth. This is the backdrop that Marcus grew up in. Although his father was demanding and rarely complimented him, his mother Elizabeth more than made up for his father's seemingly cold reserve. She always encouraged her only son and loved him with unusual tenderness, while Marcus saw her as beauty unsurpassable. He got the best education money could buy, private schools, Princeton, where he majored in political science and economics, and then Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration, which became the Kennedy School of Government prior to his graduation. In these years of his development, he came to see less and less of his ever traveling father, but he always remained very proud of his old man whom he considered to be a big-league industrial magnate chummy with Senators and Presidents notably Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson.
Marcus followed in his father's footsteps. He took over the management of the Georgetown estate and became a financier and power player in the old style. During the brief Kennedy era he met Janis de Montmorency at a debutante ball and almost immediately they became sweethearts. They married in the mid sixties and had a son, Alan, who turned out to be their only child. Unfortunately, as Alan grew, he seemed unable to live up to his father's hopes for him. Power was just not his game. But, despite his not being a natural political man, he kept up the family tradition of studying at Princeton and receiving a degree in science and economics. Moving on to the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a doctorate in Physics. When he graduated in the nineties, his father recognized that his son presented a problem. Marcus, a deliberate and decisive man, found himself at a loss with regard to his son's future. He knew that after his death, Alan would inherit a lot of money and he was afraid that his only son could end up a playboy or worse, a ne'er do well. After much consideration, he came to a decision, a rather ingenious one. He would establish a foundation with the purpose of working toward the sustaining of a clean, nonpolluting environment for America. The bulk of his fortune would go into the foundation, with Alan slated to be its Chief Administrator and a wealthy man. In the meantime, Marcus would create a small company for Alan to run. When he told him of his plan, the young man became very excited and with his father's money set out to build a business. And a thrilling venture this came to be.
As it turned out, his father's foresight was right on target and Alan thrived in the life Marcus had envisioned for him. And it didn't stop with the business. Along the way, Marcus, being a mover and shaker, came across many men of the high and mighty class. One was an industrialist, George Connolly, who made it big in defense R&D and production and later became even bigger trading in the currency market. Their association in business ventures grew into a close personal friendship and one evening while indulging their penchant for good scotch arrived at an unlikely deal. They would attempt to kindle a family merger. George had a daughter just a little younger than Alan. Inheriting her mother's Spanish roots, Tina was a dark beauty, full of passion, and her character was rounded out with wit, confidence and a brightness that glowed. What a great match Alan and Tina would make, they concluded in their alcoholic haze. Never mind the liquor that initiated the notion, here were men who expected to come up with good ideas and to make them happen. So, on that evening, destiny took the wheel. A family dinner was arranged at George's estate and, as soon as the matchups laid eyes on each other, their love was manifest, bristling in the air between them. They danced the night away as a Nor'easter dumped a foot of snow on Washington in the winter of nineteen ninety. When spring came, the dance continued during an extravagantly wonderful wedding where the families congratulated each other on crafting this union made in heaven. The couple chose to live in Washington's fashionable Virginia suburbs in an elegant old colonial southwest of Arlington just a quarter of an hour's drive to Alan's K Street office along Highway 50. And so, as the 20th century was coming to an end, the Winstons, Alan and Tina, were firmly established as a family to reckon with, she a grand hostess, he a wealthy rational business man, and with the benefit of names that opened doors, they were favored with preferential prospects.
As companies go, the one Alan built was a Limited Liability Company (LLC) that he named Climate Solutions (CS). He started with a dozen scientists, engineers and economists working at the office site on K St just west of 19th St. He developed a suite of offices equipped with the latest information technology where climate data from around the world could be picked up and processed. The collection and compilation of the information allowed CS to portray a picture of local and global climate over time and to extrapolate the results that might be expected in the future. To this end, the company requested and received grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as from corporations involved in the emerging Green technology enterprise. In its consulting capacity, Alan's company advised its clients on potential energy technology needs and preferred economic policy. As part of the company's purpose, it also invested in Green technologies and, as the years passed and the 21st century was ushered in, CS came to prosper far beyond what Alan's father had imagined. It began to appear that Marcus Winston's investment in his son would become, like all his other investments, extremely lucrative. And so it was that fortune smiled on Alan as one success after another piled up and the money kept rolling in.
Life at home for the young Winstons was also auspicious. Not only was their lovemaking punctuated with zest and ingenuity but they were in love and genuinely liked and cared for each other. About a year after the wedding, Justine arrived and a year and a half later they were favored with a son, Holden, to carry on the Winston name. Gina, as they came to call their daughter, was a perfect baby, good-natured, sleeping peacefully most of the time and when awake always ready with a smile that accentuated her bright green eyes and hinted at the beauty she was to become. Holden, on the other hand, was different, finicky and seemingly unable to be satisfied, always demanding attention and getting it. Nevertheless, nothing the children did or were could stop the up and coming Winstons. While seamlessly furthering their ambitions, they built a family effortlessly. Without skipping a beat, they brought up their children to respect the luxury and position they were born into as well as the learning and power that were placed within their grasp. All in all, Tina and Alan never questioned their right and destiny to rise in the world nor their duty to take their children with them.
A Politico Is Born
There is something romantic about being a southerner and Laura Harkin née Faulkner made the most of it. She had a touch of the Scarlett O'Hara in her and just the sight of her evoked a feeling of yearning in men. But don't let her frail appearance and silky white skin fool you. She was strong in mind and under that silky skin she had a tight muscular body. Still, her look had that certain air of feminine vulnerability that in men brought out the urge to protect and in women a competitive jealousy. Sure, her husband was aware of this attribute she had but Scott Harkin was a poised, self-assured young man and though proud and possessive of his trophy he trusted her implicitly. From the moment they laid eyes on each other they were in love and married in the summer of 1990 in her father's southern-style mansion on the outskirts of Atlanta. Her beau, a northerner from the Rockies, was not very appealing to Jasper Faulkner at first but Scott's intelligence, ambition and personable nature quickly won her old man over. More specifically, the worldly Jasper sensed a politician in the young man and his assessment proved to be quite right, for soon after the marriage, Scott was elected to the US House of Representatives in the midterm election and four years later became the Junior Senator from North Dakota, swept in on the tide of the Newt Gingrich led 1994 great Republican victory. Popsy, as Laura lovingly called her dad, did his part by setting the couple up in a southern style colonial in Arlington just outside Washington. Set on a multi-acre estate, the house, more a mansion, had in excess of two dozen rooms and was surrounded by an extensive wooded area made to order for exploring nature, just right for the grandchildren he was eager for. Laura and Scott were of much the same mind and early in their marriage, Popsy was blessed with two little ones, a boy, Brett, coming first, followed two years later by a girl, Kristin Heather. With wealth and health performing their combined magic, all was right with the Harkin family. While Scott focused on his career, Laura controlled the home front. She was a light-haired beauty with friends galore. Everything seemed to go her way. People flocked to her like bees to the honey queen. She had an adoring and ardently amorous husband and well-adjusted popular children who seemed to grow and learn without any apparent snags. Laura was happy during these early years and her graceful demeanor and joy for living were infectious. She was the guiding light of her thriving family.
Scott, handsome, smart, charismatic and persuasive, rose meteorically and by the end of his first term was an important member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. As a member of the Senate, you're invited to join the club governed by seniority and rules, the primary rule being you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours. True, you bring knowledge and inside information to the table but what you have of utmost importance is your vote. This horse trading of votes is a subtle business. There's so much to keep in mind – relations with the press, your reputation, your constituents back home and perhaps even your self-respect. Right from the start, this intricate process was an advantage for Scott. With his rare combination of powerful oratory, easy talk, position flexibility and an unparalleled ability to be discreet, he came to be a firebrand at deal-making. And over the years, his influence among his colleagues grew and he amassed an enviable number of earmarks for his state.
It was toward the end of Scott's first term as Senator that he came to appreciate the potential rewards to be reaped from the growing Green Revolution. He had become friendly with a successful entrepreneur, Harvey Stillman. In the mid nineties, Harvey began building turbines for engines and generators. The man had smarts, a great sense of timing and ingenious ideas for development with the result that sales soared. So, it was no surprise that soon it came time to branch out. One day – Scott always recalled it was a snowy January day in the final year of the 20th century – Harvey telephoned and suggested they have dinner together. Scott was delighted. Harvey chose a little specialty restaurant serving only Peking Duck. It was located on Wisconsin Avenue not far from Georgetown University. There they could enjoy privacy, a tasty dinner and a wonderful time together. They talked nonstop and drank a lot of martinis. Good thing they used taxis. But most memorable of all that evening was the idea Harvey came up with. Without much fanfare he announced that he wanted to establish a consulting company to study new energy directions. He already had a burgeoning manufacturing enterprise and thought the new one would be an excellent complement. I'll locate the two firms adjacent to each other in Bismarck, he said. How about it, Scott? Can you come up with some startup money to get me going? Scott couldn't have dreamt up a more perfect setup. He was up for reelection the following year and was looking for goodies he could provide for North Dakota to ignite his campaign. This crass reasoning almost certainly crossed his mind as well as Harvey's. But what did being a little opportunistic matter? The truth was that the time for development of new energy sources for America was at hand. This was big time stuff and Scott wanted to be part of it. Everything about the project spelled out, yes, go for it, and he did. In the end, both men got what they wanted. Harvey got his new company and Scott was reelected. Actually, this wasn't the first time Scott stepped in to ensure grants for Harvey. The Stillman conglomerate of companies had a variety of contracts with the federal government, mostly in the defense area and mostly courtesy of Scott's interventions, but this case was different. It was at the new energy frontier, and this time Scott was deeply involved, not only Scott the Senator but Scott the man, the ambitious man.
Climbing the Green Slopes
It was in the nineteen-nineties that the Green Power game began picking up steam, though early on, only a few were capable of understanding that an expansion was at hand and with it the chance of becoming upwardly mobile. Young extremists were first to appear on the scene. They were going to save the planet from the corruption of the high-living rich. They had little save their fanatic idealism to back them up. But they were young and eager. And they were lucky. No one saw them as a threat. So, they got a pass and it remained that way until a change took place that transformed this band from a ragtag bunch of oddballs into a legitimate movement. What came to validate their cause and force the powerful to sit up and take notice was an alliance with the well established environmental movement.
For decades the environmentalists had addressed the alarming problem of pollution in the cities and waterways of America. Rapid industrialization had come to the country along with the waste products from the burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal. So, along with the expansion of the country, pollution got worse and something had to be done. Clean air and water were required to maintain the quality of life Americans had come to expect but the problem just got bigger and was soon apparent to all. A solution had to be found. And, necessity being the mother of invention, a combination of technological ingenuity and political regulation did the trick. Here's how. Scientists and politicians became partners in an effort to clean out harmful pollution. The public demanded a solution and the race was on. Nobody doubted the issue. Economic growth with its attendant pollution was necessary but equal was the need for reduced pollutants so that the nation's air and water could sustain health. No expert opinion was required. It was plain for all to see. So, the evidence of pollution was measured and action taken. Success! And all seemed good in the land of the free.
