Watchdog group rates the states. We’re tops. And we've earned it.
A watchdog group called the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has just declared my state, Massachusetts, tops in the country when it comes to promoting energy efficiency. Second year in a row, too. Proud we are.
And since you might be seeing news reports about this, I thought I’d share with non-Massachusetts residents some of the details of what’s been going on here that makes us so deserving of this recognition.
Many of you have probably had experience with “odd-even” outdoor watering bans that apply to one side of the street one day – the odd-numbered houses – and the other side the next. Here we’re doing it with electricity. My side of the street has juice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and (lucky break) Saturdays. Everyone can plug in on Sunday, which lawmakers say was at the behest of church leaders but I suspect had more to do with football.
Speaking of sports, the legislature has restricted the length of what it calls “full-electricity seasons,” meaning that had the Red Sox actually made the playoffs this year (ha!) they would have been forced to host only day games. Good thing Fenway’s “Green Monster” still has that hand-operated scoreboard. In addition, broadcasts of those day games would have been limited to radio. (My son said he was looking forward to that prospect, “So we don’t have to ever again hear your radio-under-the-pillow story, Daaaad.”)
Unlike in many states, there is no hue and cry here about electronic voting machines. Paper ballots only, baby. They had been made of recycled grocery bags until paper grocery bags were outlawed. Now we’re told to bring our own piece of scrap paper and a pencil on Election Day.
Oh, yes, grocery stores: Their freezers have been unplugged, of course, and the frozen food aisles are now lined with old-fashioned ice boxes (left), which not only brim with that famous New England charm but work surprisingly well if you shop in the morning.
A number of businesses are exempt from these restrictions – for example, the high-tech industry and those operating with fewer than 10 employees. Some see this as Gov. Deval Patrick’s hedge against anti-business accusations should he seek the White House in 2016.
Traffic lights have been left alone, too, since it was decided that messing with even one might short-circuit the whole jumbled system. The state’s insurance underwriter insisted.
All in all, it’s not so bad … most days … OK, four days a week.
Now I’ve got to get this posted before my battery runs out.
