Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid announced yesterday that the almost-century-old Capitol Power Plant, which provides heat and hot water for congressional buildings, has stopped burning coal. Over the past few years, the plant has used increasing amounts of natural gas in place of coal and since March, the plant has solely used natural gas.

This news is definitely something to cheer about, but Congress could take this even further. While any reduction in the amount of coal being burned around the globe is a good thing, if Congress really wants to set an example, they should be switching to renewable energy sources, or at least integrating them into the current plant. Natural gas is far better for the atmosphere than coal, but solar, wind, geothermal and biomass are even better than natural gas.

Switching lightbulbs and updating government fleets to more fuel-efficient vehicles are all helpful and necessary changes, but the government could make a much more dramatic change that shows that they are fully invested in the climate and energy bills they are writing by using renewable energy technologies and making the Capitol more sustainable.

via Boston Globe