From last week’s Wall Street Journal comes news that despite the best of intentions from the local government and residents of Boulder, CO significant energy savings are yet to be realized.
Beyond the usual justifications on the whys and why-nots of any local initiative, the really interesting thing is that energy audits have not been terrifically successful in getting people to move forward on retrofits, despite understanding exactly where savings can be realized.
The obstacles include people being reluctant to change their habits and not practicing what they preach, nor following through on small changes in energy efficiency and behaviors.
The answer? “Two Techs in a Truck”
As many as 15 energy-efficiency teams go door-to-door throughout Boulder, CO. They’ll ask home and business owners for permission to caulk windows, change bulbs and install low-flow showerheads and programmable thermostats—all at taxpayer expense.
From a record-breaking freeze threating an entire crop of citrus in Florida to significant snowfall in England, many are wondering just how “real” global warming actually is…considering how cold it’s been lately. To set the record straight, let’s begin by using the term “climate change” instead of “global warming.” While indeed the Earth’s core temperature is rising at an alarming rate, what that temperature rise actually does is shift the various ecosystem temperatures on Earth either up or down; it doesn’t necessarily mean temperatures will be high everywhere, but that the climate will, in fact, change drastically in one way or another. Some previous Ice Ages, for example, were triggered by changes in ocean currents and surface water temperature due to cold, fresh water from the melting polar ice caps disrupting major ocean currents. 