RAIN is a-monthly informatio^n access journal and reference service for people develgping more satisfying patterns that increase local self-reliance and press less heavily on our limited resources. We try to give access to: * Solid tecbnical support for evaluating and implementing new ideas. * Ecological and philosopbical perceptions that can help create more satisfying oprions for living, working and playing. * U/-to-date information on people, events and publications. Initiative America 1316 Independence Ave. S.E. Washington, DC 20003 In 23 states citizens have the righr to petition to place proposed iaws on the bdllot, where a majority of voters can enact them directly. Best known initiatives recently were nuclear safeguards measures in Oregon, California and Washington (defeated) and bottle bills enacted in Michigan and Maine. Initiative America is a new group networking lawmaking information, acting as a clearinghouse for researching and drafting the best laws. They're remodeling a school bus into a traveling "petition factory." Write them for information about membership and their forthcoming "Guidebook to. Direct Democracy." -LdeM The Economics of Elec*ic Utility Rate Reform: A Directory of Economists, April 1977, $2.25 from: The Public Interest Economics Foundation 1714 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 202/872-O3t3 This is a listing of economists by state willing to help out (provide advice, testify, etc.) on utility rate restructuring battles in judiciai, administrative, legislative and regulatory proceedings. The service is on a volunteer or low-fee basis, but the booklet is expensive, so don't order it unless you're seriously wanting to make use of the people listed. This is a nice model for other professions, skills and services. -LdeM ENERGY SAVING Up tbe Power Curoe, a LO-minute, 16mm film by FEA, free loan prints are available fromt Modern Talking Picture Service 2323 New Hyde Park Rd. New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Points out specific steps that can be taken to increase energy efficiency in the home, where 6O% of the energy is used for heating and cooling. With the aid of infra-red photography, it shows where large amounts of heat escape through walls, windows and chimney. -LI Annual Report to the President and tbe Congress on the State Energy Conseruation Program, 61 pp., available from, J.D. Riviera, Acting Dir. Office of State Financial Assistance Federal Energy Administration Washington, DC 20461 A report on FEA's state program in its first yeai of operation. Check out where your tax dollars are being used most effectively. -LJ Hospital Energy Conservation: Two reports, "Total Energy Management for Hospitals," DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 77-6t3, and "Total Energy Management for Nursing Homes and Other LongTerm Care Institutions," DHEW (HRA) 7 7 -614, available from' Energy Action Staff Health Resources Admin. Rm. 10-.4-41 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857 $532 million per year could be saved via basic conservation measures, without interfering with patient care and without significant capital expenditures. -LJ Energlr Conserzsation in Non-Residential Buildings, R.G. Salter & Associates, $7.00 from' Publications Rand Corp. Santa Monica, CA 90406 A 4O'5O% reduction'in energy use intensity (BTU/sq. ft;) was possible mainly with changes in operating procedures. In some areas, such as Southern California, more insulation may actually increase energy needed for cooling; the energy-saving potential of natural lighting was often mor€ beneficial than reducing the amount of window glass. Useful to designers and building managers. -LJ MOUNTAINS Everybody's home mountain deserves Himalayas, Yoshikazu Shirakawa, $18.50 the love tirat these photographs and from, Harry Abrams, rnc. i"Til;ilH:il.t:::lfj:liH iiij,n. 110 East 59th St. life it collects around it. Love and celeNew York, NY 10022 brate your own mountain or prairie or If you have been drooling over this book foresr as weli! -TB since it appeared in L973 for $100, it's now available in a smaller (9"x12") and cheaper version. Without a sense of the everyday nature of the mountains, the photographs are so stunning and the colors so amazing that they seem unreal. They do convey a sense of the incredible impact such powerful places make on our lives and our senses of the environmental forces of our world. It's a vastly different space than that of the desert or the forest or the plains or the oceans, and yet each touches our hearts and minds in powerful ways. -TB Under the Mountain, Charles Newlin, 1976, $5.95 from: Book House Northwest 2900 S.E. Stark Portland, OR 97214
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