Exciting News: All levels of government are implementing sustainable solutions
Last week, the town of Woodstock, NY took the bold step of passing a resolution to reduce net carbon emissions to zero within 10 years. This resolution comes on the heels of what is now widely considered to be the possible threat of global climate change.
Of course, it’s easy to dismiss this resolution as alternative nonsense, since the name "Woodstock" conjures up all kinds of familiar counterculture imagery thanks to this lovely Upstate New York town’s wild reputation in the 1960s and ’70s. However, Woodstock has already taken action by installing a solar-heating system with over 100 photovoltaic panels atop its Town Hall building.
So before any judgments are made about this resolution being nothing more than a "typical" move by one of the historical havens of hippie culture, consider this: In 2002, according to the Federal Office of the Environmental Executive, the White House installed 167 solar panels on the roof of the complex's primary maintenance building, plus two solar thermal systems to heat the pool and spa and provide domestic hot water. The photovoltaic system feeds electricity into the White House grounds' distribution system, supplementing the complex's power supply.
The National Park Service, which administers the White House, worked with a Boston-based firm to install these systems. At the time, James Doherty, the architect and project manager at the National Park Service Office for White House Liaison, said, "We believe in these technologies, and they've been working for us very successfully." He added, "The National Park Service as a whole has long been interested in both sustainable design and renewable energy sources. We also have a mission to lower our energy consumption at all our sites, and we saw an opportunity to do both at the White House grounds."
When local, state, and federal branches of government take the initial steps to committing themselves to the practices of sustainability and environmental conservatism, this can only result in forward motion that will not only reduce our dependency on foreign sources of energy, but may also lead to a cleaner world. For further information about the Federal Office of the Environmental Executive, please visit its website at www.ofee.gov.
This topic was published as part of the House Media Network newsletter. Read this newsletter in its entirety at www.housemedianetwork.com/newsletter/27
Comments, Pingbacks:
No Comments/Pingbacks for this post yet...
