We have heard about some of the knocks on the first draft of the economic stimulus package which has passed the House of Representatives.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012003980.html?hpid=topnews

For example, of $30 billion in highway spending, less than $4 billion would occur over the next two years. Of $18.5 billion proposed for renewable energy, less than $3 billion would be spent by 2011. And of $14 billion for school construction, less than $7 billion would be spent in the first two years.

How about something that could get people working right now and help us reduce our dependence on polluting fuels.  Here is a suggestion from the National Association of Homebuilders.

http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=0&newsID=8520

Mike Hodgson, president of the California energy consulting company ConSol, revealed the results of a study conducted for the California Homebuilding Foundation last fall. Seventy percent of the greenhouse gas emissions related to single-family envelope energy consumption can be attributed to homes built before 1983, the study found.

“Simple arithmetic demonstrates how retrofitting existing homes with energy-efficient features is four to eight times more carbon- and cost-efficient than adding further energy-efficiency requirements to new housing,” Hodgson said.

The importance of window caulking

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-71.html

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs can be beautiful

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-55.html

Energy Star Appliances to save lots of energy

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-43.html

Here is a link to more great energy saving ideas from the EPA Energy Star Program

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_hpwes

It isn’t really a battle as in good versus evil.  It is a battle to define the terms and see where the responsibilities lie.

Let’s establish some working definitions:

Energy efficiency is what it is.

Energy conservation is what we do.

If the device we plug into the wall uses less energy than the device it replaces or it uses less energy than similar devices we could have purchased, that device is energy efficient.

If we decide to unplug our electrical appliances when we aren’t using them or turn down our thermostats and put on a sweater or put our computer on standby, we are conserving energy.

Here are a few conservation videos:

Some information about easy energy saving measures outside the house and in the basement

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-72.html

Some information about easy ways everyone can save energy inside the home

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-15.html

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-44.html

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