May 28, 2008—States are leading actions to make clean power generation and energy efficiency an American reality, according to the nation’s governors who convened recently in Kansas City, Kansas, for the “State Summit on Clean Power and Efficiency,” sponsored by the National Governors Association’s Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative (SCEF Initiative), which is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE).
During an opening roundtable, governors discussed progress and challenges in their home states to advance clean power generation, transmission, energy efficiency and conservation, and reduce the effects of climate change. Governors highlighted the critical nexus between using renewable sources combined with traditional sources of power generation to meet the country’s escalating energy needs.
At the event, the governors were joined by Matt Kitsler, senior vice president of sustainability for Wal-Mart, to announce the states selected to receive clean energy audits as part of the NGA/Wal-Mart “Greening State Capitols” partnership.
The partnership will give governors an opportunity to reduce the overall energy consumption of their state capitol complexes by having a team of energy experts conduct a clean energy audit of the facility. Wal-Mart will send engineering experts to 20 state capitol complexes throughout 2008 and 2009 with the goal of identifying energy efficiency improvements that will provide a return on investment within five years. In addition, the experts will demonstrate the anticipated cost savings and carbon dioxide reductions each state could experience by implementing the recommended improvements.
States selected for the NGA/Wal-Mart partnership include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
