This reminds me of the Japanese attempt at water conservation, which happened around 1990 or so. Apparently, water was in short supply at that time, right at the end of the 1980's bubble economy when everyone was enjoying far higher consumption levels than in any of the prior decades following the second world war. As a response, the water authorities did two things: 1) asked people to do their best to conserve water, and 2) tried to get funds to build greater capacity reservoirs. Interestingly, Japanese people responded by cutting water consumption around 10% or so. They could do so because even the big companies over there decided to offer folks low-water appliances, and Japanese people bought these. But the conservation effort had one really unintended consequence - as a result of lower water consumption, the water authorities suddenly found themselves in red ink due to far lower receipts from water bills. As a result, the price of water in Japan jumped by about 20%, and some Japanese wondered how they managed to end up paying more for less, even with the extra capacity.
I'm not going to offer any interpretation of this. Love these little historical fables.... Rich On 2/4/07, William Silvert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The California experience certainly shows that economic pressure (higher > prices) can have an effect (an observation with which I totally agree), > but > does not answer my question about how effective voluntary action which is > not spurred by prices and blackouts would be. Not very I suspect. > > As for the quote, can this really be THE Dick Cheney? The VP in an > administration that has always advocated voluntary actions instead of > laws, > at least where big business is concerned? Maybe he was just arguing > against > conservation in general. Remember James Watt, the Secretary of the > Interior > who said that conservation was not needed because the Messiah would come > before the oil ran out? > > Of course we have to give credit where credit is due -- Cheney, unlike > some > others in the administration, does not always shoot himself in the foot. > > Bill Silvert > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Corbin, Jeffrey D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "William Silvert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 4:46 PM > Subject: RE: Energy use and blaming > > > Bill - Probably the best recent experiment was California's failed > energy deregulation (and subsequent fraud by Enron et al.) in 2000-2001. > In response to skyrocketing prices and rolling blackouts, Californians > reduced household energy use by 12% over the previous year. > > Political action would certainly help, too... > > As for virtue, maybe you didn't mean to echo Dick Cheney: > "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue but it is not a > sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." > > -Jeff > > *********************************** > Jeffrey D. Corbin > Department of Biological Sciences > Union College > Schenectady, NY 12308 > (518) 388-6097 > *********************************** > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of William Silvert > Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 5:34 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Energy use and blaming > > Does anyone have an estimate of how much energy conservation can be > accomplished by voluntary actions? I doubt that the effect will be that > great. Political action, such as letting the price of gasoline double to > > match European prices, would be much more effective in my opinion. > > Political and economic action is also much more likely to be effective > in > controlling the industrial use of energy, where the bottom line is > paramount. > > Virtue is of course its own reward, but is that enough to solve our > energy > crisis? > > Bill Silvert > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Maiken Winter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 2:51 PM > Subject: Energy use and blaming > > > > I hear a lot of pointing fingers, blaming this or that group > > for not doing their share. I strongly believe that the only way that > we > > will make a difference is if we stop blaming others and if instead > each > > one starts to compare ourselves to ourselves. Is this all I can do, or > can > > I reduce my energy use even further? It is fun to be in competition > with > > yourself, because you can't loose. And I believe changing our own > behavior > > first is the most effective way to change the system. People can only > > change themselves, and they will resist any change more if we make > them > > feel bad. > > > > Maiken > > > > Maiken Winter, PhD (how do you like that, Meghan?? :-) ) > > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > > Ithaca, NY 14840 > > > > > -- Richard P. Shefferson, Ph.D. Evolutionary Biologist Visiting Scientist Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute Microbial Ecology Laboratory 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba 305-8687 JAPAN http://www.sheffersonlab.com/ In Japanese: $B%j%A%c!<%I!&#P!&%7%'%U%!!<%=%s(B ($BFH(B) $B?9NSAm9g8&5f=j(B [EMAIL PROTECTED]&5fNN0h(B [EMAIL PROTECTED]@8BV8&5f<<(B 305-8687 $B0q>k8)$D$/$P;T>>$NN$(B1
