Posted on 11/22/2005 6:52:47 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
They'll be chillin' like pie fillin' at the Capitol under a new order by the governor.
Gov. Jim Doyle figuratively donned Jimmy Carter's warm sweater on Monday and ordered state government to turn down the heat.
Doyle wants the thermostats in every state building, from the Capitol to the cattle barns on the UW-Platteville campus, reduced to a bracing 68 degrees.
His executive order "directs state agencies to take the same common sense steps as Wisconsin families" to save energy.
If he takes a tip from my mean husband, poor Lt. Gov. Barb Lawton's going to be stacking firewood in the Capitol portico and conducting official business wrapped in a warm blankie.
Meanwhile, the governor also helpfully provided fuel for getting the average Wisconsin citizen all hot and bothered.
On Dec. 1 at UW-Milwaukee, Doyle is holding a hearing into alleged gas price gouging that followed hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He says Wisconsin consumers were ripped off to the tune of $113 million in September and October.
The governor wants you to go to his Web site, www.wisgov.state.wi.us, and submit all your nasty commentary about gas prices to the CEOs of the five major oil companies. Just click on the thermostat photo on the governor's Web page.
"This is a great chance for people to ask these CEOs about the unprecedented fortune they made from the spike in gas prices," Doyle said.
Nice. But I wish he would have gone further.
Readers who weren't lolling at the beach last summer might remember that State Journal investigative reporter Dee J. Hall did a series of stories questioning the Wisconsin Energy Initiative.
Since it was launched by former Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1992, the program has spent $100 million in state taxpayer money on temperature controls, high-efficiency lighting and other energy-saving gizmos. A good goal, but state government energy use actually grew during that period.
Some state building operators complained they were pressured into signing contracts for pricey improvements they doubted would pay for themselves.
Why would the state be so eager to spend that kind of money?
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, which has the lion's share of the exclusive contract, was a generous donor to former governors Thompson and Scott McCallum.
The company has been equally friendly to Doyle. Johnson Controls donated $25,000 to help pay for Doyle's inauguration and, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the company's PAC and its executives have contributed at least $12,000 to Doyle since 2002.
It would be nice if the governor would add another thermostat link on his Web page for people to ask where the $100 million spent on energy efficiency actually went.
Turning down the state's thermostats is a sensible idea, but it would be better if we knew that those thermostats actually work.
We certainly paid enough for them.
Good Morning Wisconsin Conservative Politics Ping List Members!
Please put on your sweaters and turn down your thermostats. Or take off your clothes and turn UP your thermostat, LOL! Your choice. ;)
Let the blue states freeze :^)
No drilling, no warmth.
I have no problem with lower the thermostat as long as I get to wear sweats and bulky sweaters to work. If I still have to be professional, forget it.
Not that there should be, mind you.
In your comments to the guv, you might actually complain about the state's gas tax, which increases automatically--so no politician can be held responsible while they spend all that money.
As someone said, unless your are a teacher, tort lawyer or native american (indian), why would you support Doyle!
I don't think that the State of Wisconsin currently owns any Strip Clubs outright, but with "Diamond Jim Doyle," you never know, LOL!
Wonder when the FEDS will get with the same energy saving program they're pushing at the rest of us? (68 in winter/78 in summer -- which MY home has been observing for a decade or more).
(Pause)
ROFLMAO!!!!!!
wisgov?????????????????????????????? Sounds kinky!
We keep our house at 68 because that's the most comfortable temperature. 72 is like a sauna.
Wonder what this does to Wisconsin CBRF HFS-83 code which requires a minimum of 70 degrees?? Anyone know??
Some years ago a national figure suggested turning down the thermostat. I turned ours down to seventy two and the damned air conditioner ran almost all winter long.
I keep mine at 65 and use an electric space heater for the animals. Luckily in Indiana, our electricity comes from coal, so it hasn't gone up. Unfortunately, my furnace is natural gas.
Sweater Lobby Makes Huge Campaign Contribution. Gov Jimmy Carter Doyle leads investigation into Big Oil price fixing. Day 442 - Wisconsin Held Hostage
Here in Northern Virginia, our home thermostats are set at 65. Big deal!
I worked for state government during the 1970s and had to endure freezing offices, half of the fluorescent lights removed from the fixtures in government buildings and driving a maximum of 55 mph in my state car. What paltry savings in energy that resulted was far offset by lowered productivity. For example, going to a meeting that could be done in a single day's trip at the posted speed limit required at least additional meals if not an overnight stay at 55 mph.
Very funny! Has anyone else thought that all this money to subsidize energy bills is a sop to oil companies? What if we spent the same money on insulation or construction of new tight homes? Wouldnn't we be farther ahead?
Must be our sturdy midwestern stock - we keep it at 68 for part of the day, but I programmed it drop to 65 during the majority of the day. I'm an at-home mom and I move around so much during the day that 68 gets too warm. At night it's programmed to drop to 62. A nice snuggly wool blanket does the trick!
bump
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