By Nathan Willcox and Senator John Rafferty
Everywhere we look these days, energy issues are making news. If it’s
the gas prices Pennsylvanians are enduring at the pump, concerns about
global warming pollution, or warnings about spikes in electricity bills
once utility rate caps are removed, it has become clear that the way we
use and produce energy impacts Pennsylvania in many ways.
Inevitably, discussions around energy return to two questions: How do we make it cheaper? How do we make it cleaner?
One
key answer to both of these questions is energy efficiency. That’s
because we’ve known for years that the cleanest and cheapest type of
energy is the energy that is never produced in the first place. In
other words, if we cut our energy demand, we reap the environmental and
economic benefits of power plants not having to produce as much
electricity, and new power plants not being necessary.
From
the environmental perspective, energy efficiency is a clear winner. By
cutting our energy use and reducing demand on the state’s coal-fired
power plants, we ensure that less air pollution and global warming
emissions are created. Pennsylvania creates more global warming
pollution than all but two other states, and therefore using energy
efficiency to cut this pollution is clearly a much-needed step in the
right direction.
From an economic perspective, energy efficiency is also a no-brainer.
The
simple truth is that our thirst for energy is growing at an
unsustainable rate. And unless we find a way to reign in this energy
demand, we will have to build new power plants. New power plants cost
money-lots of money. Furthermore, the costs for these new plants will
inevitably be passed along to Pennsylvania businesses and consumers.
But,
if we aggressively promote energy efficiency measures throughout the
Commonwealth, we can avoid the need for these new plants and their
enormous price tag.
Because
of the many advantages of energy efficiency, PennEnvironment’s Energy
Efficient Pennsylvania project is working to cut energy use in
Pennsylvania by 10 percent by 2025. This is an aggressive but doable
target, and achieving it would reap huge rewards for Pennsylvania’s
environment and economy.
There
are many ways in which we can make this goal a reality, from making
more of our homes and office buildings “green”, to making our household
products and appliances more energy- efficient.
For
too long, Pennsylvania has failed to seize the promise of energy
efficiency. For instance, the American Council for an Energy Efficient
Economy gave Pennsylvania a score of only 16 out of a possible 44 in
2007 for the Commonwealth’s energy efficiency efforts.
Other
states that have taken the lead in energy efficiency efforts are
already reaping the benefits. One example is California, where
aggressive efforts to promote energy efficiency resulted in residential
energy use declining by more than 40 percent per capita between the
mid-1970s and 2002 (the national average was a 16 percent decrease).
Together,
we’re working to bring similar benefits to Pennsylvania. As a critical
first step, we are supporting legislation in Harrisburg which would cut
projected energy use 2.5 percent in the next five years, and cut peak
demand-or the highest 100 hours of energy use annually-by 4 percent in
the next four years.
This
modest cut in the state’s energy usage would result in 7.4 million
fewer tons of global warming pollution being created in Pennsylvania
than is projected-the equivalent of removing over 1.3 million cars from
the road for a year. It will also to help to protect Pennsylvania
homeowners and businesses from rising electricity bills.
Enacting
aggressive energy efficiency legislation will be a first step towards
making Pennsylvania a national leader in cutting energy use-for the
benefit of the state’s environment and our economy.
Nathan
Willcox is the Energy & Clean Air Advocate for PennEnvironment, a
non-profit environmental advocacy organization.
John Rafferty is state
senator for Pennsylvania’s 44th senate district, which includes parts
of Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties.
