Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” has prompted a lot of new interest and concern about global warming. SAFE has been on the case for 5years.

SAFE members Caroline Nye, Shelley Alpern, Adam Segal, and Pat Gozemba were among the overflow crowd that attended Mass Climate Action Network’s 5^th annual conference at MIT “Global Warming Action Conference” on November 19^th.  SAFE members have regularly attended the conference to stay on top of what Salem can do about global warming while at the same time saving money for the city.

The City Council voted unanimously in September 2002 to designate Salem a City for Climate Protection and since that time SAFE and the city have pushed for more green features in buildings such as the Carlton School and the high school, energy efficiency and conservation, and even encouraged residents to buy clean renewable energy through National Grid’s GreenUp program on their monthly electric bills.

With SAFE, Mayor Kim Driscoll is leading in a challenge against Worcester’s Mayor Tim Murray, newly elected as Lt. Gov., for the most new members in GreenUp. To sign up go to www.salemsafe.org.

By paying a small premium on their monthly electric bills for GreenUp’s clean energy, Salem residents with the help of matching grants from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative have earned $15,000 for renewable energy projects for the City of Salem.