LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine challenged his fellow legislators and their collective constituents, while City of Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl challenged local citizens and his fellow council members, to switch to more energy efficient light bulbs in their homes. Their comments were made on November 3 in Pacific Palisades, California, during a meeting to kick-off a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb (CFL) drive that is being lead by the Pacific Palisades Green Initiative. Both elected officials intend to use Energy Trek (http://www.energytrek.com/) and One Billion Bulbs (http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/) to help facilitate the challenge.
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) is chairman of the California State Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce and authored legislation in February of this year to phase out selected types of incandescent bulbs by 2012. According to Levine, "I'm going to take up the Billion Bulbs challenge and I'm going to email it out to my list of 20,000 people asking them to do the same. I'm also going to contact all of my colleagues in the legislature and challenge them."
Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl is chair of the LA Public Works Committee. He encouraged the volunteers of the Pacific Palisades CFL bulb drive to act now to help with the energy problem, stating, "The Pacific Palisades community is behind energy efficiency. We are in a climate zone crisis in this country. For families to change light bulbs in their house is a little thing, but it will save a tremendous amount of energy."
Local citizens have already begun to work towards the goal of changing out bulbs as part of the Pacific Palisades Green Initiative. The organizer, Karen Martinez-Cohen, wants her young kids to grow up in a safe and healthy community and world. The mother of two had never been an activist before, but now her objective is to mobilize a team of volunteers to change bulbs. Martinez-Cohen noted, "The biggest event I had organized previously had probably been my kid's birthday party. The plan is for our volunteers to call on the 10,000 homes in the Palisades and encourage them to change out all their bulbs or at least two each" The old bulbs will be stored in a bright green Plexiglas box, designed by Karen, that Energy Trek volunteered to build.
Energy Trek also helped the effort by educating the volunteers about CFLs. Mark Anderson, the Energy Trek Program Manager, commented about the event, "It's exciting to see three Energy Trek Leaders on the same day -- leaders that are challenging their fellow residents in the Pacific Palisades and their peers in the Los Angeles City Council and the California State Legislature -- all joining together to make a difference!" A local artist plans to create a sculpture with material from the old bulbs.
For more information on One Billion Bulbs and Energy Trek, visit http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/ or http://www.energytrek.com/.
To watch video of the remarks given by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, visit http://www.energytrek.com/etvideos/2007/11/lloyd-levin-ene.html.
To view the remarks of Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, visit http://www.energytrek.com/etvideos/2007/11/bill-rosendah-1.html.
To view an interview with the founder of the Pacific Palisades Green Initiative, Karen Martinez-Cohen, visit http://www.energytrek.com/etvideos/2007/11/karen-martinez.html.
For photos from the event, visit http://www.energytrek.com/case/2007/11/pacific-palis-1.html.
Background on Energy Trek and One Billion Bulbs
Energy Trek
Energy Trek (http://www.energytrek.com/) is about everyday people that want to make a difference by saving energy in their homes and in their communities. It's also about public figures such as entertainers and politicians saving energy in their homes.
A growing number of people are concerned about energy issues. Their concern may be about energy conservation and global warming or about energy independence from other countries or often about both of these issues. As a result, many people ask themselves, "What can I do to make a difference?" There are three broad ways that Energy Trek is trying to help people that want to make a difference.
First, by working with those that want to make a difference by saving energy in their home, we help them understand how to become what we call a "Basic Energy Trekker." Later, they can be an "Extreme Energy Trekker."
People can begin with something as basic and easy as changing their incandescent light bulbs to more energy efficient bulbs. We have a lighting roadmap and a way (via the website "One Billion Bulbs") to register your light bulb changes for the public to see, inspiring yourself and others. For more comprehensive ways to save energy , we provide information on appliances, heating/cooling systems, transportation options such as hybrid cars, and alternative energy such as wind or solar. We also provide information about light bulb legislation, products and solutions, and energy research.
Second, some people want to make a difference in saving energy not only in their home, but also in their community. Here, Energy Trek can help community "Energy Trek Leaders" with lots of ideas and information. We offer ways for people to register bulb changes as part of a group, and also showcase community Energy Trek Leaders and their programs.
Finally, Energy Trek will feature entertainment and political figures. The emphasis is not on their movies or their policies, but rather what these public figures are doing to save energy in their own homes and communities. Their Energy Trek profiles can contain photos, videos, and the actions they have taken to save energy - from changing light bulbs to using solar.
"Energy Trek spotlights both everyday people and celebrities who are concerned about energy and who want to make a difference in their home and in their community," noted Energy Trek Program Manager Mark Anderson.
One Billion Bulbs
The One Billion Bulbs program (http://www.onebillionbulbs.com/) is taking place alongside Energy Trek. This initiative concentrates on simple actions that people can take such as changing out old inefficient bulbs for CFL or LED light bulbs. The program was created by Brian Huyser of Symmetric Technologies, a software development company in Boston. Brian's vision encompassed mobilizing people through a series of milestones to change a billion bulbs around the planet to more energy efficient ones. "In creating One Billion Bulbs, our goal was to educate people, spur them to action and be a catalyst for meaningful change. My hope is that One Billion Bulbs and Energy Trek will continue to make a difference," said Huyser.
Both One Billion Bulbs and Energy Trek provide mechanisms that allow a person or a group to register how they make a difference - by changing bulbs, creating or joining groups, and indicating other energy changes they have made in their home or in their personal transportation choices.
Energy Trek is part of Pajamas Media, a blog media company with headquarters in El Segundo, California. The Program Manager for Energy Trek is Mark Anderson.
Some of the Energy Trek advisors include:
Jim Woolsey, an "Advanced Energy Trekker," and well known advocate of energy conservation, renewable energy and pluggable hybrids. Mr. Woolsey was Under Secretary of the Navy in the Carter administration and was Director of the CIA under the Clinton administration.
Gary Kosman, an educational advisor and head of America Learns. He was named a Fellow by the Echoing Green Foundation, an international venture in philanthropy. The fellowship included two years of seed funding and technical assistance. As a result of his pioneering efforts, Gary and America Learns are highlighted in Bill Clinton's new book, Giving.
Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday, a lighting technology advisor and the founder of Light up the World, a non-profit organization focused on providing light for homes in developing countries by using solar panels with LED lights. He was the Reader's Digest Hero of the Year in 2004. He is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary.
Energy Trek
