R.I.P.: John Hoffman, Green pioneer

This guy saved us all $230 billion, prevented 1.7 billion metric tons in carbon emissions, and was Green way, way before it was cool.

Twenty years ago, John S. Hoffman, a 14-year veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency, launched a deceptively simple program to address a problem that he, but not too many others, worried about incessantly: global warming. The program was called Energy Star. It ended up saving $230 billion in electrical bills and 1.7 billion metric tons in carbon emissions in the United States alone. Hoffman, whose death in late September at 62 was reported this week, proved just how much one government employee can do.

via bostonglobe.com