Earth Equity News

Pelosi’s ‘Green the Capitol’ Initiative Headed to the Trash Heap of History. By Sarah Abruzzese, Greenwire, 12/10/10. “Republicans are likely to make significant changes to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ‘Green the Capitol’ initiative in the coming months. The initiative, which was launched when Pelosi (D-Calif.) became speaker in 2007, has attempted to change the way members and their staffs think about energy and the environment in their daily work lives, emphasizing recycling and energy efficiency. According to the House chief administrative officer, the program has diverted more than 75,000 pounds of waste from landfills, cut more than 400,000 pounds of carbon emissions and saved more than 175,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Several members of the House Republican transition team said they are fairly certain that the operations budget for the Capitol will be cut with the GOP set to take over, meaning that some of Pelosi's high-profile and costly environmentally friendly programs may end up in the trash heap of history.”