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Anastasia Pantsios at Eco-Watch
takes a look at the latest energy-efficiency ranking of U.S. states and cities:
How does your state stack up when it comes to energy efficiency? The nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has just issued its eighth annual State Energy Efficiency Scoreboard, which assesses states based on policies that encourage energy savings, efficiency investments and jobs in the clean energy sector. So you can look it up.
“Conversations about energy use in the United States often revolve around the need to support the growth of our national economy by expanding the energy supply,” said ACEEE. “In fact, however, we have a resource that is cleaner, cheaper and quicker to deploy than building new supply—energy efficiency. Energy efficiency improvements help businesses, governments and consumers meet their needs by using less energy. Efficiency saves money, drives investment across all sectors of the economy, creates jobs and reduces the environmental impacts of the energy production system.”
The winner for the third straight year is Massachusetts. As in 2013, it scored 42 points out of a possible 50. And it earned a perfect score for its utility policies and programs. It even includes policies that encourage a reduction in vehicle miles. [...]
“Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in energy efficiency,” says ACEEE. “The state’s Green Communities Act, passed in 2008, set a long-term framework for energy efficiency as a first-priority resource. With other states close on its heels and committed to improving energy efficiency, Massachusetts will need to continue achieving high levels of savings in the utility sector, commit to continually updating building codes and work to better benchmark energy use in the private sector.” [...]
The study also rated cities, finding Boston to be the leader in its efforts to encourage better energy use. Portland, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Washington, Minneapolis, Chicago and Philadelphia round out the top ten.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—There Is Just One America:
Barack Obama in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday, was making his closing argument, offering his vision of one America and affirming his view that we are all in this together:
With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by race or class or region; by who we are or what policies we support. There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation - we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from.
It's amazing—despite all of McCain's "Country First" bluster, it's actually Barack Obama who seems to have a better understanding of the great promise of this nation.
Tweet of the Day
Joni Ernst's dilemma: remain silent & be thought a fool, or sit down with newspaper editors & remove all doubt
http://t.co/... #iasen
— @stevebenen
On
today's Kagro in the Morning show: Emerging details from yesterday's attack in Ottawa. At least some air-dropped US weapons fell into ISIS hands. Neighbors battle over concealed carry on the way to school. And
Armando can't stand it that no one seems to properly understand the nature of constitutional rights. The warrior cop supply chain makes you feel oh so safe. "The Criminalization of Schooling" raises some interesting & disparate points. Historical background on privatized prisons & revenue-driven courts: thief-takers. Sarah Palin's SarahPAC is still a champion middle-weight grifter.
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