Orlando Now a ‘Solar America City’
Orlando, Florida, recently became one of 12 cities across the U.S. chosen as a federal Department of Energy (DOE) “Solar America City.”
Each of the dozen cities will receive $200,000 to advance the use of solar technologies in their communities. All the cities were selected for “their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures,” according to the DOE.
The other newly designated Solar America Cities include Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Knoxville, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Sacramento, California; San Antonio, Texas; San Jose, California; Santa Rosa, California; and Seattle, Washington. Part of the president’s Solar America Initiative, the Solar America Cities program now includes 25 communities across the country.
Orlando has already initiated a variety of environmental programs as part of its “Green Works Orlando” program. Under the program, the city has built three wastewater treatment plants that produce reclaimed water for irrigation, established green office standards for city facilities, explored ways to generate energy from solid waste gasification and wastewater sludge and opened two LEED-certified fire stations, the only fire stations in the state to receive the green building rating.
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About the Author
Shirley Siluk Gregory Shirley Siluk Gregory, a transplanted Chicagoan now living in Northwest Florida, represents the progressive half of Green Options' Red, Green and Blue segment. She holds a bachelor's degree in Geological Sciences from Northwestern University but graduated in 1984, just when the market for geologists was flatter than the Florida landscape. Just as well, though: she had little interest in spending her life either in a laboratory or, heaven forbid, an oil field. So, of course, she went into journalism. After extremely low-paying but fun and educational stints at several suburban Chicago weeklies and dailies, Shirley and her then-boyfriend/now-husband Scott found themselves displaced by a media buyout and spending the next several years working as freelancers. Among their credits: The Chicago Tribune, a publication for the manufactured-housing industry, and Web Hosting Magazine, a now-defunct publication that came and went with the dotcom era. Shirley's always been concerned about nature and conservation (and an avid pack-rat, as her family can attest to), but became even more rabidly interested in the environment primarily due to two factors: the growing signs that global warming was real and threatening, and the birth of her son, Noah, in 2003. Suddenly, the prospect of a world that might not be quite as habitable in 40 or 50 years took on a whole new, and personal, meaning. Living where she lives now also helped light the fire of Shirley's environmental awareness: her hometown was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and beaten up again by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. That, and the fact that she and her family were vacationing in New Orleans until the day before Katrina -- and spent 12 hours driving home for a trip that normally takes 3 -- has made Shirley deeply appreciate how fragile our lifestyles are, and how dependent they are on sound management of natural resources and sustainable living practices. That's why she's become a passionate reader and writer about all things green and sustainable.
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