Where Cambridge leads, will America follow? That鈥檚 Cambridge, Massachusetts, of course. The city last week announced an aggressive privately funded $70 million energy-efficiency programme to combat global warming.
Instead of waiting for people to contact them, the programme will deploy hundreds of energy consultants to knock on the doors of the city鈥檚 23,000 residential, commercial and institutional buildings to carry out free energy audits. They will offer low or zero-interest loans to implement small but effective changes such as more energy-efficient lighting, adding insulation and installing more efficient heating and cooling systems.
鈥淲e are sitting on a mine of energy-efficiency opportunities,鈥� says Douglas Foy, an advisor to the non-profit Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA), which is heading the programme. Its aim is to cut annual electricity use by 10 per cent so that by 2011 the city鈥檚 carbon dioxide emissions will have reduced by 150,000 tonnes each year.
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The state of Massachusetts has already set aside $2 million to expand the programme to five more cities, starting with Boston, the state鈥檚 largest city. The initiative could soon become a model for cities across the US. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 an argument around carbon neutrality, nor is this an effort to make everything more energy efficient,鈥� says Foy. 鈥淵ou can do a number of small things and reduce your carbon footprint dramatically.鈥�
