The way to achieve endependence, energy independence that ends dependence on polluting fuels, is for the people, businesses and government to work together.

Here is an example of our new President’s understanding of this reality:

Obama announced he had signed a presidential memorandum directing the Energy Department to get moving on energy standards for appliances, including a first batch he will order to be finalized by August. The fact that Obama is getting directly involved in speeding up household appliance standards underscores how much he wants to show quick, clear progress on energy — part of a broader campaign promise to deal with economic and energy concerns all at once.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_energy

So here is the breakdown:

The government establishes standards for the energy efficiency of appliances and devices.

Businesses build and sell the appliances and devices.

Household and business consumers purchase the energy efficient appliances and devices.

So where can the process get derailed?

The government regulations get watered down by lobbyists and anti regulation industry  groups and politicians.

Businesses that sell and install the appliances and devices continue to push less efficient equipment because it “costs less”.  The upfront costs of inefficient equipment may be lower, but the life cycle costs are much greater.

Consumers don’t replace their inefficient equipment fast enough to make significant energy efficiency gains.

Here is another place where government can play a role at the local, state and federal level.  Governments can provide incentives to make new energy efficient appliances and devices more affordable.  As a matter of fact, they already do that.

Here is the link to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Energy Efficiency.

http://www.dsireusa.org/

There are also some things all of us can do around the house to save energy with the devices and appliances we have now.  Here are some videos:

http://endependence.info/research/videos-c-6-v-14.html

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