Your house is a barrier to achieving national security and a cleaner environment. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But it's true! It's not the only barrier, but it is one you can do something about. Energy efficient or energy independent homes can reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil. Your home is probably using 2 to 4 times more energy than it needs to. Try this. Pick up the home section of your local newspaper and look for the key words describing homes for sale. These are the words you are most likely to find:
Upscale, low maintenance, beautiful, spacious, granite counter tops, biggest investment, historic, just minutes from, vaulted and spectacular views.
Now compare that with other words that could describe a home:
Safe, healthy, durable, energy efficient. Here is a prediction. As oil and utility prices continue to increase, homes will sell based on their energy use and solar exposure in addition to their "fit and finish".
Happily, each of us can make a difference! Most of us can reduce our utility usage by an easy 10% and many people can reduce their usage of oil, gas and electricity by 30% or more. Simply put, the less you use, the less vulnerable this country will be.
There is a Zero Energy Home concept (aka Green Home) that is slowly growing in this country. The movement is designed to help you reduce your energy consumption low enough so that you can then satisfy your demand with renewable energy. The idea is to set up a plan of action starting with installing the most cost effective treatments first. Then, every year, you pick something new to purchase or install from the list until you "net-out" at zero energy used each year. Saving energy and producing energy creates more security for you and our country.
Government, Industry and Media are also barriers to achieving national security and a cleaner environment. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But it's true because they control most of the information presented to you, the public. We all know that whomever controls the message gets the money and power.
The age of cheap oil is going fast. Some of you may remember the oil embargo and hour waits at the gas station. Well, we now pay more on average for a gallon of gas ($3.21) than we did back then ($3.13 adjusted for inflation in 1981). There are two huge differences between the energy landscape now compared to the 1970s. First, this country has, through its aggressive rhetoric, military action and lack of diplomacy around the world, invited everyone and anyone to make us their terrorist target. The world is a more dangerous place now than in the 70’s and to rely on foreign oil jeopardizes our national security. Even the smallest disruption of oil supply can affect our economy. Second, our usage is truly outpacing supply. With our own oil refineries working at capacity, this country is an easy target for terrorism or a natural disaster, for that matter.
This country continues to hold around 5% of the world’s population, but continues to use approximately 25% of the world’s oil resources. It doesn't have to be so. Write your local and federal representatives to upgrade the automobile CAFE standards and beef-up the current energy tax credits. Remember this - Ronald Reagan and Congress killed the first solar tax credit, killed an entire industry and set this country back twenty years in its search for energy independence.
Amory Lovins (Rocky Mt. Institute) reminds us that "from 1977 to 1985 the US economy grew by 27%, oil use fell by 17%, oil imports fell 50% and imports from the Persian Gulf fell 87%. If we had kept that up one more year into 1986, we would have eliminated imports from the Gulf and we would never have needed any since."
