t r u t h o u t | Programming Note
Could a new effort to fight global warming in Cambridge, Massachusetts, save money and create jobs at the same time?
Watch the show RIGHT NOW at: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/413/index.html
Online: How much can you do to save energy in your home and office? Take our quiz to find out: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/413/energy-efficiency-quiz.html
This week, NOW looks at a citywide plan in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to make all their buildings more energy-efficient. Up to 80 percent of emissions in many urban cities comes from buildings. Cambridge hopes that this unprecedented effort to green its buildings will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent in just five years, the equivalent of taking 33,000 cars off the road. If every major city in America took the same approach, it would have a significant impact on the carbon footprint of the US - and it would generate tens of millions of new "green" jobs.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance, a nonprofit group, will help clients cut their energy use 15-30 percent, which translates into a lower utility bill. The Alliance will then help clients secure loans to pay for the building retrofits - loans designed to pay themselves off by the savings on those utility bills. Retrofitting thousands of buildings could also create a new green job market in Cambridge. It's a bold new experiment, but the Alliance hopes to become a national model that puts green thinking on display, as well as more green in people's pockets. Will this entrepreneurial effort bring new converts to the environmental movement?
How much can you do to save energy in your home? NOW's web site at www.pbs.org/now provides an energy-efficiency quiz, as well as a slideshow of an actual home "green-ovation."
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