Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro was in Brooklyn Thursday to trumpet a $100 million project to make the more than 300 public housing buildings use far less energy. Everything from more efficient boilers and generators to energy-saving CFL bulbs will be installed, Castro and Mayor Bill de Blasio said at Canarsie’s Breukelen Houses.
The program is part of a private-public partnership and Capital New York says will not tap tax dollars. “The money will come from a yet undetermined private company which city and federal leaders say will finance the project, recouping its investment through future savings provided by the efficiency measures,” says Capital. “This funding is so crucial because it helps to address what is a fundamental challenge for all of humanity at this point,” the mayor said
“It’s going to lead to better efficiency and air quality,” Castro said. “It will mean fewer children experiencing asthma attacks.”
Castro is considered a rising star in Democratic politics and a potential 2016 vice presidential candidate.
D.C. doyenne Eleanor Clift, writing in The Daily Beast Thursday, said:
Castro and his identical twin brother, Joaquín Castro, a member of Congress, are on the fast track—young, smart, energetic, Hispanic, and with a story that resonates not only with Hispanics, but all Americans. No elective office appears out of reach for the 40-year-old brothers, and if the Democratic ticket is headed by an almost-70-year-old Hillary Clinton, HUD Secretary Castro could be, should be, will inevitably be a serious vice presidential possibility. if the Democratic ticket is headed by an almost-70-year-old Hillary Clinton, HUD Secretary Castro could be, should be, will inevitably be a serious vice presidential possibility.
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New York’s public housing is going green — one bulb and boiler at a time
Reuters
