October is Energy Awareness Month. What’s more, October first got this designation from the first President Bush in 1991.

Why do I know this? Because the only people I have ever met who know about Energy Awareness Month are people who have worked at the Department of Energy. But I’m going to change all that with this blog post — which will probably double the number of people aware of Energy Awareness Month. Don’t worry, though, the DOE has made it easy to take action:

To help you customize your energy awareness program, You Have the Power campaign artwork is available for you to download from the images [on this website].

This is my favorite downloadable poster. Click on the image for animation — I could watch it for hours. And yes, since you ask, the energy savings from walking one or two flights of stairs instead of using an elevator is humongous — easily equal to those cancelled Kansas coal plants. Easily! [Although if there are other people waiting for the elevator, then it was going to run anyway, but don't go all techno-nerdie on me -- it is the thought that counts!]

Now I know you have been waiting to hear what the second President Bush thinks of this. You probably believe he has presided over some eighty consecutive months of Energy Unawareness — but in fact he cares deeply about Energy Awareness Month, as he made crystal clear last year with Proclamation 8068 – National Energy Awareness Month, 2006:

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“Power Plant Rejected Over Carbon Dioxide For First Time” blares the Washington Post today.

But what really makes this a “man bites dog” story is that it didn’t happen in climate-friendly California or the green Northeast:

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment yesterday became the first government agency in the United States to cite carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air permit for a proposed coal-fired electricity generating plant, saying that the greenhouse gas threatens public health and the environment.

Kansas, the state that never really evolved, “long a conservative Republican stronghold, is not generally considered to be on the leading edge of environmental causes. The GOP leadership in both the state Senate and House of Representatives endorsed the project.”

So who deserves the credit for this first move by Kansas toward intelligent design — of an energy system, that is?

1. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, head of the Democratic Governors Association.
2. Roderick Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
3. The U.S. Supreme Court — yes, them!

By declaring CO2 a pollutant earlier this year, the Supremes set the stage for environmentally- (and morally-) conscious leaders to act:

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Desmogblog has the story:

Last month, I filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to the Office of Administration in Washington DC, asking for copies of any records “relating to the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission, formerly known as Triana, from the period January 1, 2000 to the present.”

I then received this strange response from Whitehouse Deputy General Counsel F. Andrew Turley, stating:

“Please be advised that the Office of the Administration, Executive Office of the President is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Your letter therefore is returned without further action.”Strange.

I sent my letter to the Freedom of Information Act Officer for the Office of the Administration.

Why would they have one if they are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act?

Hardly the strangest or most secretive thing this Administration has ever done, but noteworthy nonetheless.