Posted on July 9, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
These reductions will be accomplished through improvements to the heating, cooling and ventilation systems of municipal buildings. Repairs to firehouses, police precincts, city offices and courthouses, along with purchases of more fuel efficient vehicles will also help reduce emissions
Regarding the price tag for these efforts, the mayor said that the city should break even on its conservation investments by 2013. He added, “The city is doing its part. I hope the private sector follows our example finds conservation savings on their own.”
Perhaps if the city that never sleeps could shut out the lights every once in a while it would be a good place for the private sector to start.
- Dell has teamed with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired-Goodwill of Greater Rochester, New York to help recycle old computers. From the Environment News Network:
Goodwill stores in the area now accept everything from whole desktop computers to cables. The program is fulfilling a need in the community, according to A. Gidget Hopf, president and chief executive officer of ABVI-Goodwill.
The program is expected to take in 300,000 pounds of computer equipment in the first year. So far, two people have been hired to sort the collected materials. One is Jim Austin, 39, who is blind. He said he feels “very honored” to be asked to do the job and learn a new skill.
Want to help the country save a quick million barrels of oil a day? Drive 5% less. Slow down. Inflate your tires.
Those three steps would reduce U.S. oil consumption by 1.3 million barrels a day immediately, according to the Alliance to Save Energy, a conservation group running an efficiency campaign backed not only by environmental groups but also the auto and oil industries.
That's nearly twice the estimated daily oil production that could come from drilling in the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to the government's Energy Information Administration.
According to Julius Pretterebner, a vehicles and alternative-fuels expert at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consultancy that does a lot of work for the oil companies, how fast people drive and how quickly they accelerate is responsible for 10% to 30% of fuel consumption.
