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Let's Pick Some Low-Hanging Fruit
Largely ignored by media obsessed with this year's presidential primary frenzy is a development of monumental proportions: Congress has started to act, finally, to curb climate change pollution.
Perhaps the most important of the policy prescriptions on the table -- the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act -- is nearing action in the U.S. Senate. The legislation would mandate serious greenhouse gas reductions and would provide policy incentives for achieving these cuts.
One of the easiest, cheapest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is energy efficiency, so NRDC has launched a Center for Energy Efficiency Standards to build on our long experience in bringing such measures to the marketplace.
Consider the humble computer monitor. There are more than 100 million in use in U.S. homes and businesses, and together they consume almost 1 percent of our nation's electricity. A few years ago, NRDC worked with the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program to set more stringent performance standards for computer monitors. As a result, the EPA estimates that by 2010 the new requirements will reduce carbon emissions by almost five million tons and save us more than a billion dollars in electricity costs annually. Flat-screen TVs, cable boxes, dishwashers, home furnaces, office-heating systems, the air-conditioning in big-box stores -- all can become more energy efficient.
These energy savings translate directly into economic growth. Making products and buildings more efficient generates good jobs on U.S. soil. And when businesses and consumers save on their utility bills, they have more money to invest in other parts of the economy, which also generates jobs. At a time when the nation's economy appears to be in recession, it is especially critical that we seize the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency -- and all the economic and environmental benefits that come with it.
NRDC's Center for Energy Efficiency Standards will bring us to the next level by crafting new federal regulations for a range of appliances, including air conditioners and furnaces, and by drafting model building guidelines that states can use to achieve global warming reductions.
While NRDC works on the policy side, I encourage you to bring the powerful simplicity of the energy efficiency solution to your own homes and offices. Check out our green living Web site -- www.simplesteps.org -- to learn more.
Another “Low Hanging Fruit” is the savings in fuel that can be realized by keeping tires properly inflated. Vehicle tires lose air at such a high rate that NHTSA, recommends that drivers check their pressure and re-inflate them at least once a month. It’s a dirty, time consuming task that most drivers don’t do, and the resulting under inflation has been estimated to consume 1.24 billion gallons of fuel per year in the U. S. This wasted fuel produces only pollution. Requiring the automotive industry to solve this problem is not unreasonable. If tires didn’t need to have air added at least once a month, and their maintenance interval could be extended to coincide with the oil change interval, all the problems associated with under inflated tires would be dramatically reduced. This can be done simply by storing air in a reservoir within the wheel rim and releasing it to the tire, as needed or it can be as high-tech as the automatic tire pressure maintenance system that DaimlerChrysler featured on its concept vehicle, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Concierge in 2002. In any event, it seems the automotive industry needs to be motivated to solve this problem. If a vehicle is equipped to automatically maintain tire pressure, this insurance against fuel waste should be recognized in its mpg rating.