Greening the House?

U.S. House of Representatives Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard issued a report yesterday telling members of that body that they should go carbon-neutral. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). Pelosi and Hoyer requested the analysis.

In the report, Beard offers several ways to accomplish this task, including:

• Obtaining 100% of its energy needs from renewable sources.
  
• Converting 12,000 office desk lamps to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) during the next several months.
  
• Directing the Capitol architect to no longer buy inefficient incandescent light bulbs.
• Making CFLs available at cost to the 7,000 House staff members for their own use.
• Purchasing Energy Star products and giving priority purchase to climate-neutral products that offset the lifecycle contribution of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Directing the Capitol architect to install an Ethanol-85 tank, pump and related infrastructure for the use of official vehicles.
  

This is only a start, of course. Much more could be done in the way of setback thermostats and habit changes. However, I think that this report shows how lawmakers are starting to realize that the leadership in the Climate Change arena needs to come from somewhere - why not from our elected leaders?

source: Greenwire -- April 19, 2007