Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming , The Media and the Environment
Ah, Home Star – the legislative proposal that has eaten all my time over the last six months. What more is there to say? Creates jobs!…Slashes energy use!…Saves money! All of that was said today and more, during a hearing...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
My fellow efficiency advocates and I have spent countless hours over the last year negotiating with manufacturers of every appliance and piece of equipment imaginable, trying to reach agreements on what the next energy standards will look like. These standards...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Solving Global Warming
The Department of Energy has made a couple of unprecedented moves on efficiency in the last few months that have gone unnoticed by all but the most die-hard efficiency advocates. First, as my colleague Noah Long explained, DOE has begun...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise , Living Sustainably , Solving Global Warming
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee will hold a hearing today to discuss how Recovery Act funds are being spent, with an emphasis on the weatherization assistance program (WAP). The hearing is in response to a report from...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise , Solving Global Warming
At Savannah Technical College today, President Obama gave us more information about the proposed Home Star program, also known as Cash for Caulkers. The idea behind this program defines the Washington cliché win-win because it will put contractors and other...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in U.S. Law and Policy
Last year’s Recovery Act left some confusion about states’ commitments to improve building energy codes. As discussed in previous blogs, when Governors accepted Recovery Act funds they agreed to update and enforce their state building energy codes, but controversy in...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in U.S. Law and Policy
Most of us only think about water heaters when forced to take a cold shower – shudder – but those boring tanks in the basement actually account for up to 25% of the energy used in your home. No surprise...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Solving Global Warming
The State of the Union is in a few hours, and folks are abuzz about what the President will say. Count me among those who are expecting a strong push for clean energy to create jobs and jumpstart our economy,...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in U.S. Law and Policy
As mentioned previously in this blog, as a condition of receiving money from the Recovery Act, all Governors had to agree to make some efficiency improvements, namely by updating their building energy codes and adjusting their utility rate structures to...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise
On Tuesday morning, President Obama is expected to add details to a new program that will create jobs and cut needless energy consumption through home retrofits. This follows Obama’s request to Congress last week to create a new program to...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Green Enterprise , Solving Global Warming
Today the New York Times highlighted the growing consensus around a national focus on retrofitting American homes to save money and create jobs, all tagged as "Cash for Caulkers". This is a great idea, and certainly not new (but the...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt
I blogged yesterday on the release of our negotiated agreement with the lighting industry on standards for street lights and parking lot lights that could save consumers over $5 billion annually. We had a press conference yesterday, attended by members...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Solving Global Warming
The Natural Resources Defense Council, along with our fellow efficiency advocates, announced the results of successful negotiations with the lighting industry on standards for street lights and parking lot lights. Standards on outdoor lights are such a no-brainer because these...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Solving Global Warming
The media has been taking the Department of Energy (DOE) to task over a recently released audit by the Inspector General (IG) which highlighted some well known shortcomings in the Energy Star program. The conclusions were not surprising - there...continued→
Posted by Lane Burt in Solving Global Warming
The White House released the "Recovery through Retrofit" report today, which reaches familiar conclusions - retrofitting homes and developing a residential energy efficiency industry can save money, slash carbon emissions, and create jobs right now. The report also had specific...continued→
