Wednesday, May 27, 2009

On a day that President Obama toured the massive solar power array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, a project Sen. Bernie Sanders visited last summer, the senator announced that he secured $500,000 for Vermont public schools to install solar panels, the latest development in the senator’s ongoing campaign to transform Vermont’s energy system. “The truth is that in Vermont solar energy can become an important part of our energy mix and it’s vital that we begin that process as soon as possible,” said Sanders, chairman of the Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcommittee.
 
The school solar grants – designed to help lower electric bills and teach students about alternative energy – will be distributed by the Vermont Department of Education to about 10 schools.

Sanders also announced more than $300,000 going to four state colleges for greener campuses, including Vermont Technical College for a wood pellet boiler, Lyndon State College for a solar array, Johnson State College for building efficiency improvements, and Castleton State College for an energy efficiency metering initiative.  He also announced a $500,000 allotment for installation of solar hot water heaters in hundreds of public housing units in Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro and Burlington.

To read more about solar eduction program, click here.

To read about the Vermont Air National Guard solar project championed by the senator, click here or pictures here. 

To read about the solar project at a school in Richmond, vermont, click here.

To read about the senator's tour of Nellis, click here.