We've all been paying more at the gas pump and we will soon be seeing higher
heating bills arrive in our mail boxes. Energy will undoubtedly become a
daily topic of conversation in coffee shops and neighborhood meetings in
coming months. Energy policy and technology options will increasingly be
discussed by the broadcast and print media, and yes the politicians too. In
Mpls., low-income and fixed-income city dwellers will be especially hard hit
economically this heating season, as they cut back on food and medicine in
order to stay warm. We'll all be asking ourselves and each other- 'what, if
anything, can city policy makers do to improve the situation?' I suspect
that issue will become a topic on this list early in the New Year as well.
I recently ran across a great article in the Oct. '05 issue of Scientific
American. This article is written by someone I place high on my credibility
list-- Amory B. Lovins. I've tried to follow his energy-related research
and writing over the past thirty years. I highly recommend this article to
others interested in realistic technical and economic solutions to many of
the problems we are facing in the energy arena.
~~~~~~
More Profit with Less Carbon
Focusing on energy efficiency will do more than protect Earth's climate--it
will make businesses and consumers richer
By Amory B. Lovins
A basic misunderstanding skews the entire climate debate. Experts on both
sides claim that protecting Earth's climate will force a trade-off between
the environment and the economy. According to these experts, burning less
fossil fuel to slow or prevent global warming will increase the cost of
meeting society's needs for energy services, which include everything from
speedy transportation to hot showers. Environmentalists say the cost would
be modestly higher but worth it; skeptics, including top U.S. government
officials, warn that the extra expense would be prohibitive. Yet both sides
are wrong. If properly done, climate protection would actually reduce costs,
not raise them. Using energy more efficiently offers an economic
bonanza--not because of the benefits of stopping global warming but because
saving fossil fuel is a lot cheaper than buying it....
complete article in pdf at:
http://www.sciam.com/media/pdf/Lovinsforweb.pdf
and the complete September '05 edition can be viewed at:
http://www.sciam.com/issue.cfm?issueDate=Sep-05
Topics addressed include: poverty, public health, biodiversity and
sustainable (or steady-state) economics... and more.
or check your local library for hard copy.
~~~~~~
Also check our own Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Minnesotans for an
Energy-Efficient Economy (ME3) for more info on the carbon economy, a carbon
tax, wind energy and much, much more!
http://www.ilsr.org/
http://www.me3.org/
Enjoy a great weekend!
Mike Hohmann
Linden Hills
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