Mayors on the Rise: Shane Bemis

“One of the reasons that I love local government,” says Mayor Shane Bemis of Gresham, Ore., “is that it doesn’t matter if you’re an ‘R[epublican]’ or a ‘D[emocrat]’, it matters on what’s best for this community.
That statement sums up Bemis’s governing style in Gresham, where his economically-focused initiatives have enabled the town of about 110,000 people to enjoy revitalized business corridors and a nearly energy-neutral wastewater treatment plant, as well the largest solar installation in the Pacific Northwest.
Bemis was born in Billings, Mont., and moved to Gresham with his family when he was 15 years old — just one day before starting high school. Introduced to politics by his mother (who was very involved in the Montana political scene), Bemis, as he put it, “caught the bug” while working at a family-owned department store, which happened to be a popular spot with local government officials, during his high school years.
In his late 20s, Bemis opened a Bellagio’s Pizzeria franchise in Gresham, which soon led to his belief that the town would benefit being governed by someone with more of a “business sense.”  In 2002, he was elected to the city council, and in 2006, voted into the mayor’s office. When he assumed office in 2007, Bemis was just 34 years old — making him the youngest person to hold the position in Gresham’s history.
Although the city’s population has ballooned by more than 75,000 people since 1980, city government positions — including the office of mayor — remain unpaid. Bemis still works as a restaurateur in Gresham, now owning an independent Italian restaurant called Boccelli’s. He splits his time between managing his business, conducting his responsibilities as mayor and spending time with his wife and their three sons.
In response to the many shuttered storefronts in the city’s commercial areas, Bemis (along with the city council) created one of his signature initiatives: the “Garage to Storefront” program, which waived all start-up fees and charges for any business that opened in a space of 5,000 square feet or less and provided assistance from city advisors. Lasting for three years (after which time it was no longer needed), 144 new businesses opened under the program — occupying 200,000 square feet of retail space.
Bemis also quickly recognized the economic potential of going green. Shortly after taking office, he signed the Mayor’s Climate Protection Act and went to work looking for places where environmental responsibility could make economic sense. Gresham changed all of its streetlights to energy-efficient LEDs, repurposed its wastewater treatment plant to produce energy via the recycling of cooking oil and other environmental technologies. Bemis understands Gresham is a conservative city, saying that he never talks about climate in regards to green initiatives, preferring instead to focus on the economic benefits of environmentally-friendly measures. This practical approach has reaped large benefits, something Bemis attributes to the non-partisan nature of local governance.
Bemis hasn’t ruled out the idea of someday seeking higher office, but for the time being he doesn’t seem to be too interested. “Right now, there’s not a lot of glory in being an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ and being in gridlock,” says Bemis, “either at the state level or the federal level. Here we can get things done and it’s a whole heck of a lot of fun.”

Sorry Thomas Edison, Here’s Why LEDs Are the Better Bulb

Because of the “New Light Bulb Law,” Jan. 1 of this year marked the beginning of the end for America’s most popular source of light — the incandescent bulb. Even though these bulbs have lit homes around the world since the late 1800s, energy-inefficient incandescents are being phased out in favor of new types of bulbs that bring more light for less power.
Taking their place is the LED (short for light emitting diode). When LEDs were first introduced, they were primarily used for traffic signals. Now, we see them in lamps, flashlights, cell phone screens, computers, automobile headlights and more.
And now, two scientists in Japan and one from the University of California at Santa Barbara have been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for their part in LED development.
The scientists’ work “triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology,” the academy says. “Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century, the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps.”
Here are three things to know about this source of light:
1. There’s no such thing as “white” LEDs
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura won the Nobel Prize for their blue light emitting diode. LEDs were invented in the 1960s, but only came in red and green. For several decades, scientists struggled to create the blue LED, that is, until the Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura figured it out the mid 1990s. With the invention of blue LEDs, we can now create the “white” energy-saving light needed for powering our homes and offices by mixing the three LED colors.
2. They are cheaper and last longer
LED bulbs can cost $20-$40 to purchase, but they’ll save you a lot of money in the long run. Even though they give off the same amount of light as an incandescent, they last about 25 times longer. According to SFGate, “If the bulb is left on for eight hours per day, it will last over 17 years. During that lifespan, an LED bulb will use 300 kilowatt hours of electricity. At 20 cents per kilowatt hour, the lifetime electricity cost of an LED bulb is $60.” Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates if that every home replaced a single incandescent bulb with an energy-efficient one, the country would save about $600 million in energy costs. Even better news? As the technology improves and becomes more efficient, prices of these bulbs will only come down.
3. They are clearly better for the environment
Unlike fluorescent or incandescent bulbs, LEDs don’t get that hot. That’s because LEDs “convert electricity directly into photons of light, instead of the wasteful mixture of heat and light generated inside traditional, incandescent bulbs,” the BBC writes. Since they are powered with less energy, LEDs don’t use as much of our precious natural resources, such as coal or gas. The lights “hold great promise for increasing the quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids,” the Nobel Prize committee says.
Besides the LED, the other type of energy-efficient bulb is the Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs), which is the coiled, tubular variety. However, CFLs not only have a shorter life span compared to LEDs, they also contain a small amount of mercury (meaning need to be recycled properly!). Researchers found that LEDs are clearly winning the race to save energy and the environment.
DON’T MISS: From LED Lighting to Waterless Toilets: Buildings and Cities Are Prioritizing Sustainable Solutions

10 Do’s and Don’ts: Easy Ways to Save Energy—and Money—at Home

With a few cheap gadgets and some simple lifestyle changes, you can slash your energy bill and protect the environment. NationSwell talked to Helene Gotthelf, projects manager at the Institute for the Built Environment, a sustainability research center at Colorado State University, to compile a list of 10 easy do’s and don’ts for improving the energy efficiency of your home — while also saving you money.

5 Easy Energy Do’s

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5 Simple Energy Don’ts

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