New microbes discovered from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, how much money could HUD save if they became more energy efficient and the impact of the administration’s weatherization programs.

The giant underwater oil plume that’s still located in the Gulf of Mexico is degrading faster than scientists expect from a previously unknown microbe. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have analyzed more than 200 water samples of 17 different areas in the Gulf between May 25 and June 2.  And what’s been found is that the microbes living on the ocean floor have left the floor and begun ocean floor microbes have literally risen to the occasion and begun decomposing the oil plume.

According to a report drafted by the National Consumer Law Center, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is losing $1 billion in energy and housing costs for the less fortunate by not performing energy efficient retrofits faster.  Energy costs for public housing and rental properties for low-income people and families has tops $5 billion each year. By making better use of existing energy efficiency programs (including those offered for free by utility companies), and by improving data collection on energy use in subsidized units, HUD could easily trim more than $1 billion from that tab, according to the NCLC report. HUD admits in its most recent energy report to Congress that one 1% of the nation’s 2,300 small housing authorities and 167 of the 800 largest housing authorities have been retrofitted for energy efficiency.

Vice President Joe Biden yesterday announced in Manchester, New Hampshire that 200,000 homes have been weatherized due to American Recovery Act funding. The goal is to weatherize 600,000 homes nationwide, which will save homeowners an average of $400 per year on energy costs in the first year. The program is also putting people back to work. The Recovery Act Weatherization Assistance Program has reported that more than 13,000 jobs were created in the second quarter of 2010.

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