Word: key
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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That's the good news. It means that we can make enormous advances in national energy efficiency - and controlling carbon emissions - simply by improving the grid, before we even begin to clean up our energy sources. The key is to add 21st century speed and intelligence (i.e., the Internet) to the 20th century infrastructure of the power grid - voilà, a "smart grid." The result would be a system that allows power utilities to remotely detect and respond to outages; that lets consumers program their appliances to use electricity when it's most abundant, allowing power companies to reduce waste...
Silver Spring is by far the smallest player in the Energy Smart Miami initiative, but its contributions are key. The Silicon Valley startup will supply the software that will make the smart grid smart, using the open technology platform Internet Protocol to send data through the system. Although using an open platform has made some experts concerned about the security of a smart grid, Lang points out that his company's software will make it easier to adapt the grid to new technologies - smart appliances, plug-in cars - that might arise down the road. "This is going...
...stands, the Obama Administration policies on these matters are still very much a work in progress. Several key policy posts at the Justice Department, including the crucial top position at the Office of Legal Counsel, have yet to be confirmed. The Obama Administration also continues to meet with civil libertarians to discuss these issues. The latest, a private gathering that took place on Friday, involved several civil-liberties groups that had spoken with the Obama transition office about the state-secrets issue late last year...
...same time, the Department will soon face an entirely new array of issues that could create tensions with civil libertarians. Three key provisions of the controversial Patriot Act are set to expire at the end of this year, dealing with the government's ability to monitor the movements of so-called "lone wolves" (suspects who are not tied to a particular organization), handle roving wiretaps and obtain records with minimum court supervision. Congressional Democrats are also likely to push for a review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's use of so-called "national security letters," which allow the bureau...
...over which the ruling Communist Party maintains strict control. Although the village elections are still dismissed by some critics as an attempt by the Party to be able to show direct democracy in action in China without conceding any real power, they have received the growing endorsement of one key electorate: the villagers themselves. "When we first started out only a few people would show up to vote," says Can Rongxi, the local Communist Party Secretary helping supervise the polls. "But gradually more and more people came as people realized they had the right to vote and wanted...