Page 4 RAIN October _1977 Your TV and newspapers tell you all the wonderful things the Feds are doing to resolve our energy problems, but they probably haven't Mld you about these things- they 're wher'e the action really is. These excerpts are from Grassroots Energy Planning by Ken Boss'ong- a 20-page compilation that gives a • sense of the rapid local progress in energy occurring around the country. The picture is encouraging and gives enough ideas to keep any community busy for quite a while. Tl.1e whole paper is available for 60r/ from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 17 57 S Street N. W., Wasbin~ton, DC 20009. It grew out of their Local Energy Action Project (LEAP), which is working to encourage, publicize and assist local energy programs. - TB -IT'S HAPPENING all over! Across the nation, grass roots energy plans-ways for states and local communities to encourage better home and office insulation, to provide alternative renewable energy resources through solar, wind, water and wood power generation- have been building rapidly. Yet, local efforts so far have just begun to scratch the,surface of what's possible in energy saving. The Nixon and Ford Administrations, preoccupied with developing expensive and centralized new oil and nuclear power source·s, paid them scant attention. The Carter Administration, while verbally more sympathetic to conservation and alternative energy options, has committed few resources to local approaches to energy problems. Nonetheless, hundreds of the nation's cities and most of the state governments are develop- , ing programs to lead themselves out of their own energy problems. And, in the process, they are assuming the lead in resolving the nation's energy crisis. By ea;ly April 1977, all 50, tates and the various U.S. territories had prepared state energy conservation p,lans. The 5% conservation goal required under the 197 5 Energy Policy & Conservation Act was apparently considered achievable by all the jurisdictions, and many indicated projected savings 25_-50% above this figure. In large measure, the states are relying on optional,measures s-uited to their particular needs and resources-to supplement the mandatory measures to meet the 5% energy reduction. For example, Colorado is planning to develop a statewide bikeway construction program as well as to institute staggered work hours and possibly four-day work weeks in metropolit~n areas. Maine's EPCA plan includes public education programs, energy audits for buildings, workshops for business and industry, revision of the state's motor vehicle inspection provisions to include an exhaust gas analysis program to identify improperly-tuned automobile engines, a local energy management program, and a proposal to institute a load management study with the state's public utility company. In New York, Governor Cary has called for a ban on pilot lights in gas furnaces and stoves and for a requirement that a seller furnish a home-buyer with both a copy of the previous year's fuel bills and an ·assessf}1ent of the building's energy efficiency. California contemplates a study of waste-heat recovery in industry with an emphasis on preheating and superheating of boilers. California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and most other states are planning major expansions of energy audit services; in some states these services are administered by the local electric and gas utilities; in others they are sponsored by Project Conserve programs administered directly by the states' energy offices. Other states such as North Carolina are also proposing prohibitions on the use of master meters for electricity and natural gas usage in new multi-unit residential buildings. In addition to curbing fossil fuel consumption, many state plans envision utilizing indigenous energy resources. West Virginia's Fuel & Energy Office, for example, is sponsoring a program in which methane gas from gassy coal mines is tapped for home heating use in ,nearby communities. New Jersey is coordinating research efforts with Princeton University to assess the potential for heat co-generation in the state. Vermont has prepared a series of studies to evaluate the potential of its wood resources to meet energy needs; its wood-energy program has already prompted an increase in reliance on this resource: between 1970 and 1976, wood use for home heating has jumped from 1% to 6.7%. Idaho is on the verge of what its energy office describes as a program that "may become the largest geothermal spa.ce and water heating project in the Western Hemisphere." The city of Boise already serves some 200 customers with geothermal hot water, but a recent study concludes that 38 large buildings or die equivalent of 4,000 ail/erage homes could be heated from a·nearby geothermal field for a cost of $5 million. While solar legislation languishes in the Congress, the states are moving rapidly to implement measures that encour-
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