Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Secretary of HUD Shaun Donovan and Denver Mayor Hickenlooper, Benedict Park Place housing development in Denver.

I believe that when you set out to look for a home, you aren’t just looking for a house, but you are also looking for a community.  You are thinking about access to quality schools and safe streets for your children.  You are thinking about transportation to work and school.  It’s important for you to have access to good jobs, grocery stores and transportation.  When you choose a home, you choose a community and all that is has to offer.  As a father, I understand how important it is to spend less time commuting and more time with family.

Through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, we are working with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to create those sustainable communities.  Guided by six “livability principles,” our Interagency Partnership is working to break down silos that traditionally exist in the federal government and help local communities across the country improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs, while protecting our environment.  It will help communities build more livable, walkable, environmentally sustainable regions by connecting housing to jobs, fostering and encouraging local innovation, and by building a clean energy economy. (more…)

Check out these interesting video clips discussing the presence of wind turbines and wind power in American towns.

First up is a clip showing local residents in Cohocton, New York, talking about wind power, and the real benefits they’ve seen from the Cohocton Wind Farm.

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when it comes to renewable energy. The city of Corvallis, Oregon, is No. 1 when it comes to purchasing green power, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Communities Program.

The city of 55,000, about 90 minutes from Portland, purchases 13 percent of its electricity from environmentally-friendly sources, or more than 100 million kilowatts (100,000 megawatts). The largest purchaser of renewable juice there is Oregon State University, thanks to a “green fee” passed by students in 2007. The sources include wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro, according to city officials.

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