Green Roof at Zoo, Solar Lights at Bus Stops Get Funding

The Louisville Zoo will begin installation of a new ‘green roof’ at its herpaquarium, thanks to an earmark secured by Congressman John Yarmuth.  Yarmuth was on hand to present a check for more than 142-thousand dollars to the Zoo.  It will be used to build a roof at the zoo that is covered in plants, which provides insulation and better water runoff.    The Congressman says such a project project is good for the environment and for the country’s economic future.“This is the direction in which the Congress is going to proceed," says Yarmuth, "trying to fund new technologies, new techniques that will save us money, create energy independence and provide a cleaner environment.”Yarmuth also announced a new project to place solar panels and lights at thirteen bus stops in Louisville where schoolchildren have to wait in the dark for their bus.  Thirteen school bus stops in the Louisville area will soon get solar-powered street lights.  It’s an effort to make those stops, which do not have lighting, safer for students who may have to wait for a bus in the dark.  Congressman John Yarmuth says it’s exactly the type of project Congress wants to support.“No economic recovery can be anything more than quick fix if our nation continues to relay on the same old sources of electricity," says Yarmuth.Mayor Jerry Abramson says the more than 190-thousand dollars for the project will be used to put the solar panels and lights in place by fall.Yarmuth says money for both projects comes from earmarks in the U.S. Department of Energy's budget.