The Energy Department today expanded its digital outreach efforts by launching a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The department already has a You Tube channel and a Flickr page, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu has more than 13,400 fans on his own Facebook page. Expanding its social networking efforts is part of a larger attempt to increase transparency, make the department more accessible to average Americans and better engage with citizens, Chu wrote in the inaugural blog post. Our goal is to use the Energy Blog and our other social media outlets to show you who we are, what…
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File this story under “cool things the government does.” The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory plans to use the world’s largest laser to create a controlled fusion reaction it hopes will eventually result in “nearly limitless” energy. Livermore this summer will fire a mile-long laser beam, split it into 192 smaller beams, and focus the beams on a pinpoint of deuterium and tritium — two reactive hydrogen isotopes that can be extracted from seawater. CNN reports that the fusion reaction is expected to be so intense it will actually create a tiny star. If the experiment works — and proves lasers can create…
The Energy Department’s Federal Energy Management Program is offering free online training sessions to help federal energy and environmental professionals learn the basics about cutting energy consumption in their facilities and operations. The sessions, held the first Thursday of each month, will discuss requirements to report greenhouse gas emissions, install advanced electrical meters on facilities, cut water consumption and make existing buildings more energy efficient, among others. The 90-minute sessions will be offered live via satellite or through streaming video at your desktop. Registrations are now being accepted online. The first session was an overview of the executive order President Obama issued in…
A trio of federal agency heads strapped on hard hats and lent their support to Sunday’s episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which featured two building projects just outside the nation’s capital. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined show host Ty Pennington for a tour of the two projects, in which the popular ABC program built a new home and community center that will be used to provide after-school programs to at-risk youths in Prince George’s County, Md. Chu praised the projects for incorporating green technologies such as solar panels, bamboo floors,…
Federal researchers have been hard at work trying to develop alternate sources of clean renewable energy, and yesterday they announced a major breakthrough in their efforts. Scientists from the Agriculture Department and the Energy Department’s Joint Genome Institute for the first time have sequenced the genes of a wild grass species. The research, which is published in the current issue of the journal Nature, will help researchers develop grasses specifically tailored for use as biofuel, said Molly Jahn, Agriculture’s acting undersecretary for research, education and economics. Energy security looms as one of the most important scientific challenges of this century.…
Federal agencies having a tough time meeting the plethora of green government mandates should take a close look at the 15 federal teams who have been recognized this year for spearheading environmentally sustainable practices at their agencies. Winners of the 2009 White House Closing the Circle Awards — handed out Wednesday during the middle of the three-day 2009 Federal Environmental Symposium East in Bethesda, Md. –Â Â are demonstrating best practices in areas such as recycling, green purchasing and fuel conservation. The big winner was the Air Force, which received four awards for initiatives under way at local bases and headquarters. The…
President Barack Obama’s Cabinet now has eight official members. The Senate voted by voice vote just before 4 p.m. today to confirm the following seven nominees: Steven Chu for Energy, Arne Duncan for Education, Janet Napolitano for Homeland Security, Peter Orszag for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Ken Salazar for Interior, Eric Shinseki for Veterans Affairs and Tom Vilsak for Agriculture. His Cabinet already included Robert Gates, whom Obama asked to stay on as Defense secretary. But things aren’t moving so quickly for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s secretary of state nomination. After her smooth hearing before the Senate…
The Energy Department just announced it’s awarded new contracts to 16 energy service companies to finance up to $80 billion in energy-savings projects at federal facilities over the next decade. Energy awarded the contracts under its Super Energy Savings Peformance Contracts (Super ESPC) program. Agencies will be able to issue task orders under the contracts for projects that cut energy and water consumption or costs, increase renewable energy use, and reduce operations and maintenance costs. As I reported back in September, the new contracts are larger in size and scope than existing ESPCs and are expected to spur significant growth in…
We’re hearing this morning that President-elect Barack Obama has settled on a handful of appointments for key positions handling energy and environmental issues. Among the likely picks: Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to serve as secretary of the Energy Department. Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Carol Browner, former EPA administrator during the Clinton administration, to serve in a new White House position coordinating energy and climate control initiatives across goverment. Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles, to head the White…
We’ve already reported that agencies are likely to face new environmental goals under the Obama administration. They’re also going to have to learn to work together. The group of advisers developing key proposals and plans for energy and environmental policies under the new administration met this week to discuss issues that will need to be addressed right away, like climate change and rising energy costs. The head of the group, Carol Browner, who led the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration, said the focus will be on getting agencies like the EPA, Energy Department and others to better coordinate their efforts. One…