Energy Efficiency & The American Lifestyle

Question on Marketplace: What do I think of W. Bush’s Energy Policy?

I think it’s a real shame that he’s so happy to give the impression that conservation is privation – that conservation hurts. With the right choices in vehicle technology and building materials, we have what it takes right now for Americans to use 50-90% less energy and never have to sacrifice flipping a switch or going a mile! If implemented today, that would seriously reduce our dependence on foreign oil and our greenhouse gas emissions, without asking Americans to give up their “High-energy life-style”.

More than that, I firmly believe that, with leadership from the White House, America’s R&D and economy can accomplish miracles. Five decades ago, our president said, “We’re going to put man on the moon.” And a decade later, we did. What if today, our president said, “In ten years, we’re going to use only what’s available from the earth and sky in each year, AND have the strongest economy in the world,” I think we could do it. We’d live off of today’s energy and today’s water, without having to borrow from the past with fossil fuels and fossil water from aquifers, and without borrowing from the future with water and air pollution, ecosystem damage, and rising health costs. I don’t believe the choice is between pollution and economic depression. I’d like to see that kind of leadership, that kind of vision, in the White House.