{"id":578,"date":"2009-07-09T12:08:23","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T10:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=578"},"modified":"2015-04-21T18:33:53","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T16:33:53","slug":"here-comes-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/here-comes-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Here comes the sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

It says something about the state of the discussion on climate change that the skeptics haven’t spoken up this year. Usually it takes only a few days of cold, rainy weather \u2014 not an entire “summer” like this one in southern Germany \u2014 for them to start crowing<\/span> and scoffing<\/span>.<\/p>\n

But even those who don’t accept the idea of climate change are starting to sense a business opportunity. Americans are fascinated by the fact that a country with so little sun can be the world leader in solar energy and environmental technology \u2014 and they’re starting to think that America ought to be able to do it bigger and better.<\/p>\n

The last ten years have quietly seen the construction<\/span> of giant<\/span> wind farms<\/span> in the American West. The US, in fact, overtook<\/span> Germany last year to become the world’s leading producer<\/a> of wind power<\/span>, without anyone noticing. This year, however, new projects in two major cities will literally<\/span> have a higher profile.<\/p>\n

The Empire State Building<\/a>, built in 1931, is currently undergoing a $500 million renovation. In April, it was announced<\/span> that $20 million more will be spent to make the building more energy-efficient. Adjustments<\/span> will be made to the lighting, heating and cooling systems of the 102-story<\/span> skyscraper<\/span>, and a third layer<\/span> of insulation<\/span> added to its 6,500 windows. The measures are expected to pay for themselves<\/span> in only three years, thanks to an energy savings of 38 percent.<\/p>\n