|
| Back to Contents Page |
Home Energy Index |
About Home Energy |
| Home Energy Home Page | Back Issues of Home Energy |
Home Energy Magazine Online March/April 1993
EDITORIAL
Dear Bill Clinton
Now that you have moved into the White House, we would like you to take a
careful look at your new home. Is it energy-efficient? We doubt it. You can set
a good example by installing the most energy-efficient refrigerators, air
conditioners, lights, and windows. You will also be saving taxpayers' money,
which would also please us. But don't stop with the White House; there are 90
million more homes across the country that could benefit from efficiency
improvements. What kinds of policies will make this happen?
The greatest energy savings will come from the implementation and extension of
the appliance efficiency standards. The standards are already reducing
consumers' utility bills as old appliances are replaced. These standards should
be continued and strengthened where appropriate. In addition, they should be
modified to reward manufacturers that greatly exceed the minimum. The next step
is to develop minimum efficiency standards for new homes and major renovations.
The standards would cover space and water heating, cooling, lighting, and
water. In all these areas, relatively modest investments will substantially
reduce energy and water use. A special mortgage subsidy along with an effective
rating system for homes with efficiency measures might drive the market even
faster. Presently, there is a patchwork of efficiency standards. A single
national code would simplify home design and construction.
You should encourage regulatory agencies to let utilities profit from energy
efficiency. Yes, it is hard to imagine how a company can profit by selling less
of their product, but many utilities are doing just that. In some cases,
utilities are the best agents for energy efficiency. Unleash them, but make
sure that they verify the savings because utilities get greedy, too.
Poor people suffer disproportionately from high energy costs, and the
government has several reasons to help them reduce their costs. For one, the
government often pays their utility bills or the indirect costs from
homelessness or resulting health problems. Even when low-income weatherization
programs have enough money--few do--they are hampered by federal regulations
that stifle innovation. For example, they are forbidden to attack the non-space
heating components of energy use. We recommend that low-income weatherization
programs be continued but that they be encouraged to try new technologies and
approaches, such as linking to utility DSM programs.
Don't forget that you are the nation's largest home builder and landlord. In
that position, you can exert tremendous leverage in the market by insisting on
very high insulation levels, and only the most efficient refrigerators, lights,
and windows. Presently, the HUD standards for public housing are scandalously
lax and sometimes even fail to meet local standards. Military bases are just as
bad. There is tremendous potential for retrofitting existing housing, too.
Finally, you need to increase federal support of energy efficiency research.
Today's research produces the conservation technologies of tomorrow. Past
research at the national laboratories and universities has produced some of the
efficiency stars: electronic ballasts, low-emissivity windows, and new
insulation materials. There's no reason to doubt that new discoveries will
continue to flow if research funding is maintained.
Most of these recommendations involve re-jiggering current policies rather than
spending more money. That's why we think that you can't lose by making energy
efficiency a key element of your administration's policy.
| Back to Contents Page |
Home Energy Index |
About Home Energy |
| Home Energy Home Page | Back Issues of Home Energy |
Home Energy can be reached at: contact@homeenergy.org
Home Energy magazine -- Please read our Copyright Notice
| 
