Energy Efficiency and Conservation

• April 2nd, 2009 by Green Chamber of Commerce
• Posted in: Green Chamber of Commerce, News
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We’re hearing a lot of grandiose talk about building gigantic new power grids and transmission lines from huge solar collectors and remote wind farms as cures for our energy addiction and global warming.

Unfortunately, there’s too little attention being paid to energy conservation. Instead, the need “to meet increasing power demands” is repeated ad nauseam. We look expectantly and naively at techno-fixes like hybrid cars and solar panels and wind for salvation. These are wonderful tools if properly used, but they will NOT solve the energy and global warming problem unless there is also intense energy EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION. Conservation and efficiency don’t sound sexy enough for mass consumption yet they are the fastest and cleanest ways to reduce energy consumption.

There is one organization that thoroughly understands and is advocating for conservation and efficiency, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). This group is calling for policies that will reduce electrical consumption by 15% by 2020 and natural gas consumption by 10%. The annual savings to business and residential consumers would be $168.6 billion. ACEEE estimates this would eliminate emissions of 222 million metric tons of greenhouse gas, which is the equivalent of taking 48 million cars off the road. (These and other findings are summed up in “Implementing a Federal Energy Efficiency Resource Standard,” which can be found at www.aceee.org/pubs/e091.htm)

ACEEE is leading a coalition of 60 businesses and environmental groups urging federal legislation to implement a national Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) that will enable the country to make the reductions. The proposed EERS bills (H.R. 889 and S.548) are sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). It is my hope that the Green Chamber of Commerce will join the coalition

If you would like to discuss this legislation and the Green Chamber’s involvement or are interested in joining the Green Chamber’s Political Action Committee, please contact Bob Schildgen at 510-219-2549 or bob.schildgen[at]gmail.com.