Governors sign on to Climate Savers efficient PCs plan
The nation's governors are jumping on the bandwagon of energy efficiency in computing.
The governors of Minnesota and Kansas on Wednesday committed to buying energy-efficient PCs, part of a partnership between the National Governors Assocation and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.
Launched earlier this year, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative is a group formed by Intel and Google to promote use of energy-efficient power supplies for PCs.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas said that new PC purchases for their states will meet the EnergyStar 4.0 rating, which could result in a 50 percent reduction in energy consumption over the next four years.
Energy efficiency is often referred to as its own "fuel" because relatively simple steps can result in dramatic energy reductions.
About half the electricity sent to a PC is wasted in power supplies, they said. The states' IT departments will also use power management tools already available.
Govs. Sebelius and Pawlenty said that taking these steps are part of their states' efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The governors said they will urge other governors to take part in the program.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
