As Steelworkers' Wages Are Cut By Buyout Bandit, One and All "Volunteer" To Conserve Energy

April 7 (LPAC) [Source :EconomicTimes on line]

Mittal Steel's 20,000 employees in the United States have been "persuaded" to take the Energy-Star "Change A Light" pledge. This means that each one promises to use "energy-efficient light bulbs and fixtures." According to the Economic Times, the company helped employees fulfill the goal of the campaign by exchanging each pledge for a compact fluorescent light bulb. The Energy Star "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign is a national challenge sponsored by the EPA and the US Department of Energy. According to EPA estimates Mittal's 20,000 pledges have the potential to save more than 5.5 million kilowatt hours of energy and 9 million pounds of so-called greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA is not known to have commented on the type of light bulbs used at the 2004 wedding of Mittal head Lakshmi Mittal's daughter, staged at Versailles Palace, and reported to have cost 59 million dollars. (pds)