Miami-Dade County’s Office of Sustainability announces the launch of the Renovation for Energy Efficiency Loan (REEL) program for businesses to implement energy efficiency retrofits. REEL, administered by the South Florida Regional Planning Council, is a $1.5 million revolving loan fund that provides funding to businesses to institute capital improvements to their properties that result in a reduction in the electrical energy consumed by the business. All local businesses in Miami-Dade County may apply for REEL.

 

The Miami-Dade County Artificial Reef Program was established by DERM in 1981 and since then it has established or assisted other applicants to establish offshore and inshore artificial reef sites, which span the length of Miami-Dade's 35 nautical mile coast.

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Dennis C. Moss is pleased to host a Home Energy Savings Workshops in District 9 on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm (registration begins at 6:00 pm) at the Phichol E. Williams Community Center, 951 SW 4th Street, Homestead, FL 33030. The workshops are being held to educate residents on energy efficiency and conservation and provide homeowners with the information, resources and incentives to reduce their utility costs. Participants will receive a free energy savings toolkit valued at over $100 and learn to track household energy consumption/reduction.

 

“Knowledge is power; I hope many residents of my district can take advantage of the information that will be provided in the workshops as it will help them save money by reducing the energy use in their home,” said Chairman Moss.

Yesterday August 18th NOAA and their partners released the first batch of rehabilitated sea turtles that were impacted by the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill in the Gulf.

We released 23 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles back into the Gulf of Mexico near Cedar Key, Fla.  All had passed their health assessments and were strong enough to go back to their natural environment.

We are really pleased that the turtles we’ve rescued, or that we found stranded since the oil spill started in April, have done well in rehabilitation so far. There are just over 300 turtles in rehabilitation at our partner facilities from Louisiana through Florida.   These turtles will be released in the coming weeks.