This is part of an e-mail to me from Roger Berliner (Montgomery County Council VP)…

Thank you for your kind words, and your own good work…I also hope that my work over the course of the past several years will make your job easier.  Last year on Earth Day, the Montgomery County Council passed what the Washington Post characterized as a “far reaching environmental initiative” that I drafted and sponsored.  This package of seven bills and twenty five different measures attacks greenhouse gas emissions from every source – buildings, transportation, utilities – and promotes energy conservation and renewables through both regulatory actions and incentive mechanisms.  I am attaching the Washington Post front page article on that effort and the subsequent editorial in support of it.

Click here to view the article [download#4]

This year, I hope to honor Earth Day by passing model local government legislation that will finally break the barriers to home energy efficiency retrofits and increased solar penetration.  The bill provides for a revolving fund that would grant close to zero interest financing, amortized over 15 years, secured by a lien on the property, and paid for by a line item on the property tax.  The “game changer” is that by using the lien to secure it, the loan runs with the property.  That means that homeowners no longer have to worry about how long they will be in their home to pay back their investment.  The result should be homes that are 20-30% more energy efficient, lower utility bills, greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and green jobs.

Roger Berliner
Montgomery County Council Vice President (District 1 – Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac)