How about ‘Conserve, Baby, Conserve’?
One message that is emerging in this election cycle is that somehow we can drill our way to energy independence.
Drill Baby Drill? How About ‘Conserve, Baby, Conserve’?
During the Republican National Convention this week, the delegates broke out repeatedly with a chant ‘drill baby drill.’ One message that is emerging in this election cycle is that somehow we can drill our way to energy independence.
But drilling for a few days of oil is no solution to our energy problem. The smartest energy policy we can develop in the United States, and an energy policy we should lead by example here in Oregon, is to focus on energy efficiency and conservation. This is our smartest energy ‘supply’ strategy. Already, the Pacific Northwest has ‘saved’ 3700 megawatts of energy through energy efficiency programs since 1980. That is the equivalent of supplanting six coal fired coal plants the size of the Boardman plant in Oregon.
If we want true energy independence while at the same time advance solutions to global warming, clean, renewable energy needs to be the centerpiece of America’s energy policy, not outdated, polluting fossil fuels. Oregon is on the right path. By passing a Renewable Energy Standard in 2007, we will see at least 25% of Oregon’s energy coming from renewables by 2025. In the next legislative session, the Oregon legislature should do more to invest in renewables, and help accelerate the development of new clean energy options, like wave energy and cellulosic ethanol. And Oregon should invest more in energy conservation and energy efficiency, which simply put, is a smarter way to go. Maybe next time the message chanted by the crowds will be ‘Conserve, Baby, Conserve.’
