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.