From: Rita Schenck [rita@iere.org]
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 4:21 PM
Subject: Energy Update #7

Dear Friends:

We have completed the first phase of our work!

Our report, a guide for community energy sustainability is posted on our website at http://www.iere.org/documents/EnergyIndependentCommunities.pdf

Now we need to get to the next phase: making it happen.

We are continuing to do outreach in the community and outside of it, and we will be working on projects that can be done both in the near term and in the long term. We will be aided by a grant from the Bullitt Foundation to help us get there.

This week, we visited the Bowen Island (B.C.) Community Council and asked them to partner with us on sustainability, starting with energy issues. They agreed on the spot.

Some of the projects we are working on:

- Getting financial and other support in place for energy conservation

- Working with Puget Sound Energy and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to promote Green Tags on the island-- with investment flowing from the green tags back into the community.

- Evaluating policy obstacles and offering solutions so that not only Vashon Island but the entire Pacific Northwest can move forward on renewable energy and the hydrogen economy (we are working with the Pacific Northwest Economic Region on this project).

- Developing on-island demonstrations of commercial PV, biomass and wind, with hydrogen generation.

We are meeting with Puget Sound Energy twice this month to discuss these issues. They have been very supportive, and we anticipate good things.

We invite you to share this note with anyone you believe would be interested. We will gladly add the names of anyone who requests it to this mail list. Likewise, if you wish to be removed, send me a note and I'll remove your name.

Yours,

Rita Schenck
Institute for Environmental Research and Education
P.O. Box 2449
Vashon, WA 98070

206-463-7430
206-279-1570 (f)
http://www.iere.org