Boston leads US cities in energy efficiency

Boston leads US cities in energy efficiencyAccording to a new report, Boston is leading the list of US cities in terms of being the most energy efficient in the country.

Boston is followed by Portland, Ore., New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Austin. Cities have adopted measures such as bike-sharing, tougher building codes, electric vehicle charging stations and cool roofs in order to attain greater level of energy efficiency, according to the report that covered 34 major cities in the US.

Boston was ranked the highest due to its efforts in reducing the use of energy, said the first-ever scorecard by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which is based in Washington. The think tank said that the city has moved very quickly to reduce its consumption of energy.

Lead author Eric Mackres, "Over the past five or so years, cities are rediscovering how important energy efficiency is to their economies." He also said that the federal Recovery Act funds helped the city test several measures and some of them have been adopted since to reduce energy consumption.

Meanwhile, the US congress is considering a bill that provides financial incentives, worker training, expert advice and other tools to allow businesses to become energy efficient.