VCE Weekly Update

Making a Difference

by Annette Smith (Executive Director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.)

In the past week, FERC approved a 400-mile pipeline and declared that a 149-mile pipeline will not have an environmental impact. New Yorkers were told to get used to more power plants. A large New York power plant received further approval. In Montana, electricity price spikes caused industries to shut down. Californians were told that demand is outstripping supply. The failures of deregulation are becoming evident. The price of gasoline is still high. Residential natural gas rates are going up 25% to 50% and may go higher.

What are you doing to make a difference? Are you driving less? Turning out lights? Are you thinking about your energy use and what you can do to reduce it?

Electricity is an inefficient source of heat. The most wasteful uses of electricity in the home are for space heat, clothes dryer, refrigerator and hot water. If you are using electricity for any of those purposes, fuel switching will save energy.

How many watts do your appliances use? You probably don't know. All you have to do is pay attention, like you do to those comparison prices in the supermarket, and you can save energy. An iMac uses 150 watts. What does your computer use? Think about the refrigerator. The motor is on the bottom. Does this sound like a good idea, to generate all that heat at the bottom? The hot air rises and reduces the efficiency of the refrigeration process. If the people who make refrigerators simply put the motor on the top, think how much energy could be saved. One company that has done that is www.sunfrost.com.

Modern lighting is too bright. It is probably not good for healthy eyesight and it certainly is not good for the environment. Replace those 100-watt light bulbs with something that uses less energy.

New houses are too big. Do people really need all that square footage? Bigger houses require more heat and air conditioning, causing furnaces and power plants to burn more fuel.

How old is your furnace? New furnaces are extremely energy efficient.

Is your house well insulated?

Have you been thinking about investing in renewable energy? Every watt generated by the sun or the wind is one less watt that has to be generated by burning coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear fuel.

Vermont's former Public Service Board Chairman says that energy efficiency can reduce the need for new power plants and transmission lines.

If you don't want a pipeline to threaten your peace of mind or a power plant to destroy your neighborhood, start thinking about ways that you can make a difference. Use less energy. And support VCE.

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Making a Difference

YES, I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT VCE !!!!