My friend Gabby moved to Washington D.C. for a job last summer. Even though she moved to the nation's capital, she's never been that interested in the government. Since living there, however, she's gotten a sense of the importance of local politics.
While many of the people who live in D.C. are preoccupied with national issues, the city still has a local government that works to further the interests of its citizens. As a non-government official, Gabby really appreciates this.
I was chatting with her on the phone last week, and she mentioned how much she likes the work that her local politicians do for her city. She mentioned to me that there is currently a law that would help to reduce the energy use of businesses in a really simple way.
According to Gabby, the D.C. Council is trying to pass the bill that would prevent businesses from propping their doors open while the air conditioner is running inside. It's a simple proposition, which some people claim could save a ton of wasted energy.
The legislation would subject businesses to a $100 fine for a first offence, and the penalties would get even steeper for repeat offences. I think it might work really well in encouraging good energy saving behavior.
Gabby told me that she supports the law as well, since it could save businesses money in the long run and would encourage the city to get greener as time goes on. I love getting updates on local government like this, it's always really interesting to me to find out what's important in a specific area, but if this law saves energy, maybe it will catch on.
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