crossposted from unbossed

Ever have an epiphany about the meaning of everything and how it all fits together? Well, I can't say I have quite achieved that, but at least part way along. It all happened as I was washing my hands in a very up-to-date restroom.

Montgomery County, Maryland, is moving toward a stronger building code, with requirements for new homes to meet the Energy Star home building parameters. This is the type of measure rapidly implementable across the country to help foster the move toward a more sensible building infrastructure such as envisioned by Architecture2030 (which has a plan to a deCarbonized building infrastructure by 2030).

The move to Energy Star construction, as the minimum standard, will mean a reduction of energy consumption by at least 15 percent over existing building code.

But they're being opposed in their efforts by ... [drumroll] ... the Bush administration.

The current recession, plus decades of lost jobs, plus decades of neglected levees, bridges, roads, schools, and hospitals, calls for a new WPA. That's the Works Progress Administration, established by the New Deal to build all those vital structures, employ people, and grow the economy.

The Republican stimulus package will enrich the rich, but soak the poor. Even those checks will have to be paid back at tax time.

The WPA achieved all its goals, and provided strong, beautiful buildings and bridges that still stand. We need the WPA again, right now.

The Washington Post featured a local high school's green renovation in Titans of Ecology, which began

At the brand-new T.C. Williams High in Alexandria, a modern "green" school, students say the environmentally friendly design has led to a serious lifestyle change: They can't doze in class anymore because sunlight pours in from practically every angle.

Going green means more attentive students ... at least, fewer students napping.

This one of those benefits from Going Green, being more environmentally and energy sensitive (aware) when building, that many don't realize.  

Putting aside all the environmental benefits (real benefits), being Energy Smart, Environmentally Smart is, well, simply being smart.

Yesterday, I heard our president say something to the effect that a plot to fly an airplane in to the tallest building on the West Coast, the LIBERTY tower, had been thwarted.   It started a big controversy here in Los Angeles yesterday, because apparently Mayor Villaraigosa had not been notified of this information.  

Hey *!   Its the LIBRARY tower.  Now the named the US Bank tower.  I can see it from my front porch from my house here near downtown LA.   The reason why it was called the LIBRARY tower was because its across the street from the CENTRAL LIBRARY.

Not that I'd expect you to know what a library is....