Archive for April, 2010

Happy Earth Day !The Daily Energy Report for Thursday, April 22, 2010 discusses the least and most wasteful US cities, $452 million in funding from the administration going towards energy efficiency projects and Zipcar purchases Streetcar in the UK.

Transcription
In honor of earth day, America’s Most & Least Wasteful Cities, Vice President Biden announces $452 million in funding for energy efficiency retrofits, and Zipcar acquires Streetcar, this is your daily energy report.

Hello and welcome to your daily energy report for Thursday April 22nd. I’m Ben Lack and I’ll be bringing you top stories coming from the energy sector but this time with a little Earth Day spin.

Leading off, Nalgene has released its annual list of least and most wasteful US cities with San Francisco being awarded the least-wasteful while Houston was given the dubious most-wasteful tag. A total of 3,750 people around the country were asked to rank their behavior on waste, sustainability efforts, shopping habits, transportation and reusing items. Higher scores were given to people who’s answers significant impact on the planet in an immediate way. Some examples include recycling, lowering how much one drives and limiting shower time. In addition to ranking the cities, what was also found was that environmentally responsible behaviors that are easy to do tend to get ranked higher than tasks that require more effort like taking public transportation, composting and using a rain barrel. Do you agree?

Vice President Joe Biden kicked off the beginning of 5 days of Earth Day activities with the announcement of $452 million of Recovery Act funding going to the ramp up of energy efficiency building retrofits. The money will be distributed to 25 different communities across the country and funding large-scale retrofits and projects that make it easier for homeowners and businesses to make their own energy efficiency improvements. The administration expects the program to save about a $100 million annually in utility bills and over the next 3 years, generate approximately 30,000 jobs all across the country.

And finally, Zipcar, Inc., the world’s largest car sharing service, yesterday announced it has acquired Streetcar, the UK’s fastest growing car club. Already with a member base of 360,000 in 28 North American states Zipcar now can take advantage of Streetcars more than 1,100 locations across eight cities, including London, Brighton, Cambridge, Southampton, Guildford, Maidstone, Oxford and, most recently, Bristol. This deal allows the company to offer more convenience and variety to members in the UK while also establishing a foundation for building out their European network.

Have thoughts or comments about today’s show, then please visit dailyenergyreport.com and let us know what you think. That’s all the time that we have for today. Thanks for watching and make sure you tune in tomorrow to check out the latest Daily Energy Report. Have a great Earth Day.

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