RESOURCES – REGIONAL AND BY STATE

What you can do to find the most energy savings for your dollar Energy Star, a program of the U.S Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, offers information about planning, financing and executing energy efficiency projects of all sizes. Its guide for small business, Putting Energy Into Profits, is particularly useful. Energy Star…

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Washington state Rep. John McCoy honored for protecting I-937

Washington State Rep. John McCoy (D-Tulalip) has been honored by the NW Energy Coalition Friday for his successful efforts to maintain the integrity of the state’s voter-approved Clean Energy Initiative, I-937, particularly during the 2009 state legislative session. Coalition policy director Nancy Hirsh (left side of photo) and former Coalition policy associate and lobbyist Carrie Dolwick (right) presented the award to Rep. McCoy during a brief ceremony in the Coalition’s Seattle office June 18.

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120 Western Washington business and community leaders seek leadership of Senators Murray and Cantwell in resolving Columbia Basin salmon crisis

On Tuesday, 120 Western Washington business owners and community leaders wrote to U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell urging their leadership in solving the Northwest salmon crisis. The open letter to the senators also appears as a full-page ad in today’s Puget Sound-based weekly, the Stranger.

These leaders want the senators to bring together all interests —farmers, fishermen, energy users, business owners and local communities — to craft a durable, science-based and economically viable salmon restoration plan. They acknowledge past tensions surrounding the salmon issue, but note the enormous economic opportunity if Washington can forge an effective long-term solution.

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Efficiency accomplishments win Headwaters award for PSE's Cal Shirley

Cal Shirley, Vice President of Energy Efficiency Services for Washington state-based Puget Sound Energy, recently received the NW Energy Coalition’s 2009 Headwaters award honoring his clean and affordable energy leadership. With Shirley as head of Energy Efficiency Services, PSE has steadily ramped up its efficiency savings achievements and associated budgets. In 2002-2003, PSE spent about…

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Wash. Governor delays new building code improvements

The Washington State Building Code Council has acceded to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s request to delay economically beneficial improvements to the state’s energy code.

The actions – Gregoire’s request and the Council’s June 11 acquiescence – send the utterly false message that better energy efficiency is bad for homeowners. In fact, the code improvements now put on hold will save homeowners far more money than the improvements will cost, no matter what the Building Industry Association of Washington says.

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