Titus brings green ways to Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — The blue recycling bins are lined up against the back wall and also sit beside each desk, with some desks having two or three of them already filled with scrap paper by early afternoon. Watch out not to trip over them.

A basket for compostable material contains someone's leftovers from lunch. Under each desk is an energy-saver power strip. The lamps were outfitted with compact fluorescent bulbs long ago.

Welcome to the Capitol Hill office of Rep. Dina Titus, the House freshman who is taking seriously the call to go green.

Titus, D-Nev., on Wednesday marked Earth Day by delivering a short House speech calling for more investments in renewable energy. Then she appeared alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at an event touting a "Green the Capitol" initiative.

Pelosi challenged House members to adopt 19 tactics in their Washington and district offices to save energy and reduce their carbon footprints. They range from buying recycled content paper and printing sheets on both sides to canceling excess magazine subscriptions or reading them online.

"We are working our way through the steps," Titus said. "We are doing most of them now."

Conservation is not new to Titus, who as a Nevada state senator once introduced a bill to require state agencies to recycle.

As a House newcomer, Titus took advantage of energy savings from the get-go when she set up her office in January. For instance, 350 computer servers for freshmen were consolidated into a central data center that decreased energy consumption by 45 percent, according to a Dan Beard, the House chief administrative officer overseeing the energy-friendly conversion of the Hill. New paint and carpeting was chosen to be low in volatile organic compounds so as to improve indoor air quality.

Titus took it a step further. From her office account she subsidizes staffers who take the bus or train to work. She appointed her legislative director Karen Agostisi as the office "green czar," in charge of putting energy savings in place. Titus points out two of her aides drive Priuses, while she walks to work herself.

All the small moves she is making save taxpayers about $1,300 a year, Titus estimated. But multiplied across Capitol Hill, savings could add to more than $1 million, according to House officials.

Titus also has joined a new "green dog caucus." More formally known as the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, its 45 members promote clean energy technologies.

When it comes to a green conscience, most lawmakers are following suit, some more religiously than others. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., for instance, also is a "green dog," and has put in place some of the conservation measures for her office.

"If we are a typical office, and I think we are, everyone is taking this in the right direction," said aide David Cherry. "If put to the test, our compliance would not be 100 percent probably."