As the nation’s capital braces for an onslaught of merrymakers at next week’s inauguration, efforts are underway to make this year’s festivities the greenest ever. Reports the Los Angeles Times:

“Not only are we committed to holding an inauguration that is the most open and accessible in history,” said Linda Douglass, chief spokeswoman for Obama’s inaugural committee, “but we are also committed to making sure that it is as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has provided a liaison to the Presidential Inaugural Committee to advise on “best practices”—a first, Douglas said.

“We’re obviously not going to have paper towels in the bathroom,” said Shelley Cohen, helping organize the green ball featuring Gore, the ex-vice president who shared a Nobel Peace Prize for efforts in raising awareness about climate change. “We’re going to have air dryers.”

“Making the inaugural balls as low-energy and low-carbon as possible won’t stop global warming, but it is a very important symbol about the direction of the incoming administration,” said Dan Weiss, director of climate strategy for the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The Forest Stewardship Council has announced that the one million inaugural invitations and their envelopes have been printed on FSC-certified paper.

Now, about the travel-related emissions of those two to four million people zooming into D.C. next weekend ...

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