Kill central air, drink canned beer and buy a hybrid
At least pick cans over bottles
Americans ignorant or lazy on energy?
Favorite American ways to save energy according to a new study: turning off lights, driving slower on the highway, unplugging cellphone chargers when not in use, and choosing glass over aluminum.
Thanks for just less than nothing.
On the other hand, in just less than a decade switching from central air to window units, buying a high mileage car and choosing canned beer instead of bottles could a have a significant impact on US energy consumption.
A lot of interesting ideas presented in this study via Green Car Congress, but one point that really caught my attention: “contrary to popular perception, modest mileage improvements to very low-mileage vehicles will save far more gasoline than inventing vehicles that get astronomically high mileage.”
Excuses. Is that the fundamental characteristic of Americans? Of American corporations?
I’m not going to buy a hybrid because I’ll only buy a plug-in since hybrid cars are only an interim technology.
Yet, if all Americans were buying hybrids today it would have massive impact on US energy consumption. If not hybrids, then diesels and Ecoboosts, for instance. But we don’t have to wait until there are plug-ins for all American consumers before massive, effective change can be achieved.
But, hey, if we just keep shutting the lights off faster and faster, the darkness can at least hide reality I guess.
Nevertheless, might it be easier to achieve change in America than is believed? Can education change American energy habits, or is this study simply proof that Americans are just plain lazy?
Tom – Yeah, I’m a regular on REW as well. Good stuff over there. Stephen Lacey usually has some pretty good interviews with the alt-energy crowd.
If you happen to be and energy junkie like me you will probably find the following podcast interesting. It will run in the background [play] while you continue to work or do stuff like e-mail. It covers many of the issue we talk about here on this blog. It is about 48 minutes long. Enjoy
Tom G.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/podcast/play/how-to-exit-the-age-of-oil-closing-the-renewables-gap
That would be my bet. We’ve been so divided and segmented that even when we believe almost exactly the same thing we’ll still end up disagreeing over the most insignificant crap.
Still scary though. Something like 9/11 wasn’t nearly a big enough smack on the head. Either we better come up with an amazing technological breakthrough or the next big smack is going to be dangerously painful.
Dach – Probably a little from Column A and a little from Column B. Americans, and I believe most people, aren’t spurred to action until confronted by some massive force. Invading a country, poisoning the baby formula, or a plague gone wild will all usually get people off their asses, but not much else.
Oh, we’ll bitch and moan about the general things, write letters to our congressman, maybe even form little coalitions, but no REAL change ever takes place until we’re smacked in the head with a 2 x 4.
Corporate America realized this “lazy” gene in people decades ago and has been grooming it ever since. They slip product placement in our movies, avoid fat people in the advertising, and repeatedly tell us “Buy (insert product name here) and You’ll Be Happy!” Unfortunately, after decades of this terminal mind-fuck, the general public has come to buy it. Literally.
I think the underlying problem is people have forgotten how to be skeptical. Nobody bothers to ask “Why are You trying to sell me That?” Compound this with a lack of real heroes for people to emulate, and you get a population that basically gives up and just goes with the flow.
Sad, but it may take THE BIG FUCKING THING to get us off our collective behinds.