Boxer asks senators to save energy

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - The new head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee wants to reduce energy consumption, starting with her colleagues.

California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record) is installing energy efficient lights in her Capitol Hill office that dim in response to natural light. At her invitation, five other senators are doing the same.

The change is not going to solve global warming, but Boxer said the pilot program, overseen and funded by the Architect of the Capitol, could cut electricity consumption as much as 50 percent at participating offices.

"Don't you think it's time the federal government were a model of energy efficiency?" Boxer said Thursday at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors where she described the plan.

Boxer also urged senators to turn off their computers when they leave for the night and purchase energy-efficient cars.

She drove to and from the conference in a Toyota Prius, one of three she owns.

The other senators participating are Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Wayne Allard (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo.; Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine; and Thad Cochran (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss.

The offices of Boxer's committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will take part, too.

That is all there is room for in the pilot program. Boxer hopes to expand it to cover other offices in the future.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070126/ap_on_go_co/senate_saving_energy [link]