The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently released its 5th annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The scorecard ranks all 50 U.S. states on their different energy-efficient policies and programs.
So, out of a possible 50 (50 being the worst possible score), Virginia ranked 34th.
While this score isn’t a shocker to those of us who live in VA, it should be a wake-up call to business leaders and government officials who at the very least wish to clean up their public image.
State scoring was based upon “Utility and Public Benefits…Score,” “Transportation Score,” “Building Energy Code Score,” “Combined Heat and Power Score,” “State Government Initiatives Score,” “Appliance Efficiency Standards Score.”
Maybe worst of all, Virginia didn’t move in rank from 2009 to 2010 in ACEEE’s scorecard rankings.
Clearly, VA has a lot of work left to do to clean up its energy efficiency act. From public transportation, to recycling, to clean energy use, to water use, to overall public awareness regarding energy efficiency issues, VA still has a lot of progress to make.
Of course, VA can make it happen if strong political and business leaders take up the challenge.
So far, however, Gov. McDonnell and his administration in particular haven’t gone far enough to increase VA’s energy efficiency programs and policies.
If they, and anyone else for that matter, look close enough, they’ll see that a move in the direction of energy efficiency will save lots of money too!
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