As the days get longer, more and more Americans are cranking up their air conditioners and turning on their fans. Meanwhile, their energy costs continue to climb -- and they're feeling it. In a poll last week, nearly 8 out of 10 people said saving on energy costs was deeply important to them -- more important than issues like the federal deficit.
This isn't news to the millions of low-income families who worry every single day about their utility bills -- the families who are struggling to stay cool as temperatures climb. But it is a good reminder to our nation's leaders that energy policies hit folks at home, and in their wallets. By making it a priority to help Americans achieve energy savings, our leaders can provide real help to struggling families.
Government has a big role to play in bringing energy savings to consumers. In fact, existing federal efficiency standards for appliances alone will have saved consumers a net $1.1 trillion by 2035, according to a recent report.
Cutting electricity use is also one of the best ways we can create good jobs for Americans. Upgrading and constructing buildings is labor-intensive, and the work has to be performed on-site, which creates lots of jobs -- jobs that stay in local communities.
There are a number of simple solutions that will create energy savings for more Americans -- including tax credits and innovative financing. And we can do it through efforts like MPower, our new program that brings efficiency upgrades to affordable housing and cuts utility costs for the people who need it most--our elderly, disabled, and low-income families.
But this isn't just about reducing costs and keeping homes comfortable. Using less energy helps fight global warming -- something that is becoming harder to ignore with each passing day. The U.S. just recorded the hottest spring in our history. The average number of heat-related deaths is expected to triple by the end of the century, according to a new report. Meanwhile, we're seeing tornadoes, wildfires, and other natural disasters become more frequent and more destructive.
Energy efficiency may seem like a drop in the bucket. But it is one of our most powerful weapons for fighting climate change. In fact, buildings account for a whopping 39 percent of global warming pollution produced in the United States. The only way to change that is to make them use less electricity.
Americans care deeply about saving energy because it affects our pocketbooks. It affects our lungs. Our livelihoods. Our safety. If our leaders fail to invest in energy efficiency now, we can expect to see more and more extreme temperatures. We can look forward to more tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires -- along with drought, famine, and disease.
If our leaders instead pause and listen to what Americans are saying -- if they make it a priority to help families cut their energy use -- we can steer away from these frightening weather extremes. We can steer towards a healthier, more prosperous and peaceful world -- and a brighter future for our kids and grandkids.
Follow Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/phaedrael
Insulate your attic for $300, save half on your cooling. Install a radiative barrier inside the roof for about the same price, and halve it again.
I live in the Hamptons, playground of the rich and famous...an area where most houses are McMansions...with "open floor plans" and cathedral ceilings...big barns of houses that require tons of energy to heat and cool...so while the poor are worried about turning on a fan in 106 degree weather, or shivering in a cold house in winter, the rich are keeping themselves comfortable in well heated or cooled houses. Even if they only use them on weekends, they keep the heat or air conditioning on all the times, so they don't have to be "uncomfortable" when they arrive.
Raising energy prices doesn't affect the rich, but it really hurts the poor, who have to cut down on usage at the cost of their health. The government has cut down on HEAP assistance to the poor, while the rich pay to keep their unoccupied houses "comfortable".
Those 2 solutions (PACE, FITs) would do more to improve our economy - hundreds of thousands more jobs, lower energy bills, significant income streams to regular americans, improved property values, reduced water usage, and avoided infrastructure costs (like new transmission and new Big Solar and Big Wind boondoggles) and avoided disaster costs (Deepwater Horizon, mining accidents, refinery explosions and methane leaks, fracking well poisonings, nuclear radiation issues, plus global warming costs, etc.), but none of the Gang Green "enviros" are fighting for them, choosing to back BP Wind and Chevon Solar over the best interests of the people, the environment, the atmosphere, our ecosystems and other species (plus the economy).
What will you do?
I live in a "historical" village, and probably would not even be able to get permission to put solar panels on my roof. We have plenty of coastline and plenty of wind in winter, and sun in summer, but people wouldn't want their "view" sullied by these facilities, no matter how much they would conserve to help the environment.
If people are really serious about helping the environment, the will have to sacrifice something, but since 1980, that word has become "dirty", since Reagan said that there's plenty for us all. I think it's gonna take something really bad happening before people wake up.
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25664. And if you can't see the panels from the street elevation, there's usually no problem at all.
Subject to showing due care has been applied to making the impact clear, and the installation is conformal with the roof you might be in decent shape. However, convincing a historical preservation officer of that might be a challenge.
Many communities have large south facing roofs on churches. Almost every community would accept shade structures over open parking lots, and on the roofs of flat commercial buildings in even a small main street downtown.
In almost all cases though, the low-hanging fruit for cutting consumption is usually better insulation. For less than $1000 in materials, you can usually install a radiative barrier under the roof, effective insulation on the attic floor, and reflective film on windows that receive evening sun, which can cut cooling requirements by 80-90%.
PACE is an excellent way to put no money down on PV installations (and efficiency upgrades), repay the loan through a property tax assessment (designed to result in return on investment immediately for the homeowner) and which transfers with the property. No risk to lender or borrower.
FITs make generous payments to those people willing to make the "sacrifices" you mention by installing solar panels on their rooftops and feeding clean local energy into the grid. The "sacrifices" everyone keeps offering to make with "wind farms" and "solar farms" are to avian life, marine life, migration corridors, ridgelines, healthy desert ecosystems, etc.- not to mention our economy- which are bad ideas and not needed..