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06/18/2008 12:13 PM
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Greening the Capitol:
The House (but not the Senate) Cleans up its Act Page 2 |
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More substantial green steps are underway. The House is buying wind power to offset all of its electricity, and switching from burning mainly coal to all natural gas for its share of heat and air conditioning supplied by the Capitol Power Plant.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate it's business as usual. You'll find styrofoam containers in the cafeterias, reliance on virgin paper and lots of waste going to landfills instead of compost heaps. They have yet to release data on their emissions. Still, the Senate benefits from the Green Capitol efforts. AOC sealed the building's 142 non-working chimneys, for instance, almost all of which belong to the Senate. The AOC tried to eliminate coal from the Congressional fuel mixture in 2000, but was thwarted by powerful coal state senators, including current President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
But change may be coming. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 orders the Capitol Power Plant to operate "in the most energy-efficient manner possible to minimize carbon emissions and operating costs." $3 million dollars was allocated to study ways to capture, store and use carbon dioxide emitted from the plant.
There is one green project on which the House and Senate agree: getting rid of those hot lights on the Capitol Dome. A test of energy-efficient replacement lighting should happen this summer, with hopes of a complete changeover by the end of September. But Beard says the move is largely symbolic because it will only save taxpayers about $10,000 a year in energy costs.
And what about savings from Green the Capitol as a whole? "The cost savings to the taxpayer is a moving target," says Jeff Ventura, communications director for Beard's office. "For example, properly metering our energy usage will save $750,000 a year and pay for itself in six years." Ventura is confident that, overall, the multi-year effort will lead to a major reduction in energy usage and taxpayer dollars.
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Nancy Pelosi, on Greening the Capitol
Green the Capitol
FROM E Magazine, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
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