Nickels Gets His Earth Day Green On
As the candidacy of Michael McGinn shows, Greg Nickels hasn't always won the hearts and minds of Seattle's greens. But he's managed to score himself a global profile with his green initiatives, and today he rolled out another. 
Teaming up with New York's Mike Bloomberg and scoring a laudatory quote from green jobs guru/Obama adviser Van Jones, Nickels announced his Green Building Capital Initiative today. Basically, the program takes advantage of federal stimulus money to offer free/discounted energy audits and loans for energy-saving remodels. It also raises efficiency standards.
The specs:
- A Puget Sound Energy/Seattle City Light audits of residential home energy use are discounted from $600 to $96. Limited to the first 5,000 fans. call 684-3000 to schedule.
- $1.2 million loan programs for energy-saving home improvements
- Mandatory measurement and disclosure of energy use for commercial buildings bigger than 50,000 square feet and residential buildings of more than 20 units, starting in 2010.
- Energy efficiency requirements for new buildings go up 30%
- Training program to create 230 auditor and energy-efficient technician jobs.
Name-checking our most famous landmark, Jones gave it El Presidente's seal of approval: "Smart green solutions are the way of the future for all Americans - whether they wake to see New York CIty's skyline or Seattle's Space Needle...President Obama shares this dedication to a green recovery."
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