U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman champions energy-efficient

Speaking at an energy training workshop Wednesday for federal agencies, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman stressed his department's commitment to promoting energy efficiency.

Bodman, who delivered the closing remarks for the four-day GovEnergy conference held here, said his department is particularly interested in the potential for increased energy efficiency in New Orleans, where the massive rebuilding effort allows for a new attention to energy-saving building techniques.

He said his department will provide $1.5 million to perform energy audits for up to 75 New Orleans schools. The program, he said, will allow schools to determine how to best implement energy saving measures and could lead to savings that will ultimately result in more money for education.

"U.S. schools spend something like $1 billion on energy," he said. "The goal is to stop spending money on the invisible infrastructure" and redirect it toward children.

Bodman said his department is working with Entergy New Orleans on a solar schools initiative through which four schools will in the coming weeks be awarded 25-kilowatt photovoltaic systems.

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