Special Series
Economic Turnaround
In a Series
Washington State Goes Retro
The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (to be called the Commerce Department beginning July 26th) has submitted the state’s application for more than $58 million in stimulus dollars to fund the State Energy Program (SEP).
The ambitious goal of the program is to complete retrofits for 3000 residences and 500 small commercial businesses by 2012 which will create 200-300 jobs and save 100 to 300 billion Btu in energy annually. The Department of Energy should get back to the state in about 3 months with an answer about whether the program passes muster. When considered together with local programs like those in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington's effort could create more than a 100,000 retrofits in both the residential and business sectors over the next decade. As ambitious as all these programs are its worth noting, from a global perspective, that the United Kingdom is currently looking at retrofitting ALL homes in the UK by 2020. That’s 7 million homes completely retrofitted.
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Film Your Commute
Erik Pennington’s commute is 13 miles. He filmed it from his bike, sped up the film, and put it to music.
Film your own commute and let us share it!
Or, search YouTube and other video sites for the best bike-commute videos from around the world. Post them in comments or email me your favorites . Here’s one for starters that shows insane, between-lanes-of-cars cycling in Manhattan.
(Hat tip to Jeff Youngstrom.)
