"In the short-term, efficiency is really the cheapest source of energy we have. No one knows how long it will be till renewable energy becomes an economically and technologically viable replacement for fossil fuels. No one knows how much infrastructure will have to be built to support the new technologies (gas stations can't currently fill your car with hydrogen, even if your car could take it and we knew how to safely produce it). No one knows what the unexpected impacts of these investments will be -- think about how subsidizing ethanol changed the global corn supply and helped create a worldwide food crisis.
Efficiency is less glamorous than new technologies. But it's achievable and its effects are predictable. Keeping your tires inflated doesn't drive up world food costs. Weatherizing your home doesn't require a huge technological leap. Wearing a sweater -- as Jimmy Carter famously suggested -- actually works to lower heating bills....
The media is full of stories about individual, local government and even some business initiatives to take the energy efficiency route. My instinct is that the majority of Americans still don't recognize how vital it is for each of us to take small but significant steps. Indeed, I doubt that most of us realize that the sharp drop in oil prices is based on a sharp drop in demand for oil. What a concept!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment