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Some silly projects are sure to be built. In Long Beach, Calif., local and state officials bucked the orders from Washington. The city council unanimously approved a $620,000 skateboard-park renovation in a rough neighborhood, half-pipe and all. "It's an incredible opportunity," says local councilman Robert Garcia. "This is near and dear to my heart," noted California Senator Barbara Boxer on the Senate floor. Biden's staff has battled to kill the project behind the scenes, and the outcome is still unclear. Meanwhile, on other requests, Republicans quibbled with Biden's definition of prudent. Some $3.4 million...
Every night at 11 p.m. the village of Dörentrup in central Germany is thrown into total darkness. For the past few years, the village's cash-strapped local council has been switching off all the streetlights in the village each evening until 6 a.m. the following morning. In most places, a nightly blackout would provoke outrage as residents find themselves fumbling and stumbling their way home through the dark. But in Dörentrup, they have seen the light, with a new scheme that allows residents to turn on streetlights on demand - anytime, anywhere - using just their cell...
...When Dörentrup's council started switching off the streetlights, Dieter Grote's wife would worry about their children coming home late at night in the pitch black. "My wife has all the good ideas," Grote, who runs an advertising agency, tells TIME. "I discussed the problem with her and we thought it must be possible to have the lights available on demand." Dieter got in touch with the local utility company Lemgo and together they came up with a solution: How about turning on the village lights with a simple telephone call? Lemgo developed a special modem...
...After a pilot project last year proved to be a big hit with the public, Dörentrup's council has decided to roll out the scheme for the whole village, home to 9,000 people. Utility company Lemgo says the scheme will cut down Dörentrup's carbon-dioxide emissions by around 12 tons each year compared with leaving the streetlights on all night. "We found out that on each stretch of road, people only switch on the lights up to three times each night," explains Frank Bräuer, project leader at Lemgo. "That's why this...
...home, and then go into another room, I switch the lights off in the lounge; people shouldn't expect the streetlights to be on when they're not outside" - but says that any money saved will go toward building schools or sports facilities for the village. And although the council picks up the electricity bill every time anyone uses Dial4Light (locals only pay for the call), the scheme is still cheaper than running the streetlights through the night. "We're cutting electricity bills and we're doing something to help the environment," says Ehlert. "Everyone can do their...