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Tags: american wind energy, american wind energy association, climate change, energy prices, foreign countries, global warming, high energy, home energy bills, megawatts, oil companies, pollu, record gas prices, record profits, solar energy industries, solar industry, solar power, tax breaks, wall street journal, wind energy association, wind power industry,Pages: 2
Language: english
Created: Fri Apr 11 16:31:48 2008
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Explore, enjoy, and protect the planet
Save Money (and the Planet)
with Efficiency, Renewables
There are two big challenges facing I The American Wind Energy Association
us right now: high energy prices and notes that the U.S. wind power industry
installed 5,244 megawatts in 2007, ex-
the need to curb climate change.
panding the nation's total wind power
We're all being squeezed by record gas prices generating capacity by 45% in one year
that are also driving up the costs of food and and injecting an investment of more than
anything else that is transported to stores. $9 billion into the economy.
Home energy bills are rising. Oil companies
continue to reap record profits and get huge I The solar industry added more than 300
tax breaks from the U.S. government. We still megawatts of capacity last year, accord-
rely on foreign countries for oil. ing to the Solar Energy Industries Associ-
ation. And the Wall Street Journal wrote
The good news is that we can save money in January that, "(Solar power) [a]dditions
and do our part to cut global-warming pollu- are expected to roughly double this year.
tion by being more efficient and investing in Large commercial solar installations now
renewables -- as individuals, in our local com- exceed home installations in California,
Find out more at: munities, and as a nation. Even better, a move reversing a long-term pattern and likely a
www.sierraclub.org/wecandoit toward clean energy will be the driver that bellwether for other states."
will transform our economy, create and keep
good jobs, generate new investment and I American cities are seeing real results
business opportunities, and gain oil inde- right now: The City of Denver now saves
Be Green, pendence for our country. The technology ex- $218,000 annually after it replaced all
Save Green. ists and many people are already realizing the
savings and reaping the benefits. This is not
traffic lights with LEDs. Dane County,
Wisconsin, now saves $150,000 each
Turning down the thermostat some pie-in-the-sky, next generation solu- year after installing more efficient light-
one degree in the winter can tion! With the same can-do spirit that trans- ing and heating systems in its govern-
save you 3% on your electricity formed our economy during WWII and won ment buildings. In Pennsylvania,
bill. Drying clothes on a line or the war, we can do it. Governor Ed Rendell said investments in
rack can save you $80 in a year, clean energy have created 3,000 new
Check the facts, then see the chart on the jobs in the renewable energy sector
increasing to more than $500
back of this page to find out exactly how since 2003.
over five years. Replacing 10 reg-
much you can save by getting more efficient.
ular light bulbs in your home I Looking to the future, a study from the
Roll up your sleeves!
with compact fluorescent lights Blue-Green Alliance reports that requir-
(CFLs) would net you savings of I According to the U.S. Department of En- ing 20% of our country's electricity
$92 in one year. ergy, the cost of heating, cooling, and come from renewable sources by 2020
lighting our homes and workplaces could would create 820,000 jobs across the
be cut by up to 80% or more just by using country. A report from the Union of Con-
the "off-the-shelf" technologies available cerned Scientists notes that if the U.S.
today. It's at our fingertips! had that kind of renewable electricity
I PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that in standard it would create $94.3 billion in
2007, clean energy technology - which new capital investment, income to farm-
includes energy efficiency - was the ers, ranchers, and rural landowners, and
fastest growing category of venture in- in new local tax revenues.
vesting in the U.S.
If you invest your economic stimulus check to improve energy
Spend Now. Save for Years to Come. efficiency , you can save money and energy while building a new
green economy that create jobs and curbs global warming.
ACTIVITY/PURCHASE COST DOLLAR SAVINGS DOLLAR SAVINGS CO2 SAVINGS CO2 SAVINGS
1-year 5-years 1-year (lbs.)3 5-years (lbs.)3
($0.11/kWh1) ($0.14/kWh2)
Turn down thermostat 1° in winter free 3% 3% 3% 3%
Dry clothes on line or rack4 free $80 $508 1,247 lbs 6,235 lbs
Replace 10 incandescents with CFLs5 $40 $92 $582 1,431 lbs 7,155 lbs
Walk or ride bike to work twice a week free $4727 $2,3597 2,875 lbs8 14,375 lbs8
instead of driving6
Purchase EnergyStar refrigerator9 $500-$700 $24 $152 372 lbs 1858 lbs
Purchase hybrid car $23,00010 $70911 $3,54411 4,316 lbs8 21,580 lbs8
NOTES: (1) Current U.S. average electricity price. (2) Projected 5 year average of U.S. electricity prices. (3) Assumes a U.S. national average emissions rate of 1.72
pounds per kWh. (4) Assumes the average use of clothes dryer to be 4 hours per week. (5) Assumes changing 10 lightbulbs per household. (6) Based on average
one-way commute of 16 miles. (7) Based on an average fuel economy of 22.5 MPG, and a gas price of $3.19/gallon. (8) Based on numbers from EPA emissions cal-
culator. (9) Savings should be compared to price difference between EnergyStar fridge and non-EnergyStar fridge, so while a payback might not be readily appar-
ent, it does indeed exist. (10) Savings should be compared to price difference between hybrid and comparable non-hybrid car. (11) Based on an average fuel econ-
omy of 22.5 MPG, a hybrid fuel economy of 45 MPG, and a gas price of $3.19/gallon
They're saving money; I A+ for Efficiency. In 1995, the Northside Inde- I Church Churns Out the Savings. The Unitarian
pendent School District in San Antonio, Texas, Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula
your community can, too. set out to increase energy efficiency, reduce in Carmel, California, generates 100 percent of
I Beaucoup Bread. Twenty thousand dollars costs and create an enhanced learning envi- its electricity from 180 solar panels installed
can buy a lot of bread. That's what Subway ronment. They've already saved the district on the church's property. Congregant Greg
sandwich franchise owner Steve Kaplan is sav- more than $20 million, for an average of more Wolfson, an expert in solar energy, oversaw
ing by installing energy-efficient lighting, than $1 million per year. To do it, they took ad- the project, which cost $250,000, offset by a
heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, ceiling vantage of rebates for fixing leaks in old pipe state rebate of $110,000. Wolfson said that the
fans, and ice makers throughout seven Sub- systems, installed low-flow toilets. and retrofit- new system will eventually save the congre-
way locations in Oklahoma. With these im- ted schools with energy-efficient lighting. gation $5,000 a year in electricity bills.
provements he's reduced his energy costs by They also used technology to control outdoor
40 percent. lighting, heating and air conditioning, and cre-
ated a paper-free scheduling system for events
by using an online intranet system.
Sierra Club Headquarters: 85 Second St., Second Floor · San Francisco, CA 94105 · (415) 977-5500 APRIL 2008
Sierra Club Legislative Office: 408 C St. NE · Washington, DC 20002 · (202) 547-1141 · www.sierraclub.org/wecandoit