Efficiency PR Campaign Needed

With the midterm elections around the corner I'm happy to see more politicians talking about alternative energy in their platforms. Hopefully awareness of this important need is finally making it up to the levels of government that can effect change.

While I'm an advocate of alternative energy sources to replace our dependence on greenhouse gas producing fossil fuels, realistically there is no combination of alternative sources that can replace our current level of consumption. There are however significant opportunities to radically reduce our consumption of energy without radically impacting our standard of living. What I'm finding however that the public and policy makers for the most part have no clue on what can be done to reduce consumption.

There are some that believe that reducing consumption would be bad for the economy. I would argue that the longer term consequences of continuing this level of consumption far exceed the short term effects on the economy. In addition reducing consumption actually reduces prices as we have just seen with radical drop in the price of gasoline which is apparently due to the drop in demand. As a result we are seeing the economy improve as less money is going to the oil companies and more to the rest of the economy.

What I believe is needed is an educational campaign to educate the public on simple ways they can reduce energy consumption. I believe that if people realized what they are doing to our planet when they make their daily decisions and the simple things they can do about it, consumption would drop dramatically. That would help the economy since energy prices would drop just like gas prices have dropped recently due to a reduction in demand. The same would hold true for all types of energy and not only would the economy benefit but so would the environment by the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Most people now believe global warming is real and more and more people are starting to believe we will soon begin to run out of oil. What we need to do is go to the next step and make people aware of how they can reduce their energy consumption. Simple ideas such as driving less, purchasing more efficient vehicles, taking public transportation, carpooling, replacing light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs, raising the temperature in the summer and dropping it in the winter are just a few of the ways.

An educational PR campaign to promote these lifestyle changes is what is needed now. Most people believe climate change is real, so we can stop beating that drum. The drum beat now should be all about how we can reduce consumption. The economists can't argue that reducing consumption is bad for the economy now with the stock market at record levels due to falling fuel prices as a result of reduced demand for oil. Reducing consumption is GOOD for the economy so lets tell people how to do it!

Rick Jaworski

http://altenergytechnology.com