Climate and energy

by Nancy Jackson

America is seeing the end of a long relationship – we’re breaking up with fossil fuels. They will still be a big part of our lives, sure… but the connection will never be the same again. It’s time to admit that and move on.

It’s time to start seeing other fuels.

And our first choice is the first fuel – energy efficiency.

Don’t get me wrong. Oil, gas, and coal have been lovely – they’ve brought light to the night, sped cars down the roads, and lifted mere mortals into the skies. For over one hundred years, it’s been a great ride.

But folks, let’s face it, our best years with the fossils are behind us. The easiest oil, gas, and coal are long out of the ground. From here on, everything will be tougher and more expensive to get, more polluting to burn, and these days over six billion people are ready to fight for what’s left.

We don’t have to abandon the fossils entirely. Fossil fuels will help us transition to secure, renewable sources of energy. They will ease us into flex-fuel and plug-in electric vehicles, co-fired and combined heat and power electric plants, and they will provide firming power for wind and solar energy on the way to innovative storage technologies.

Want to move on with your energy relationships? You can start today. You can make America more secure and independent, bring investment and non-exportable jobs to Kansas and the nation, and manage our environmental and financial risk.

You can do all this by increasing energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency is like the guy (or girl) next door. You know - dependable, effective, and available this very day. But until now, you just hadn’t recognized how incredibly attractive and powerful energy efficiency really is.

It’s also the least expensive, most productive fuel alternative available – a really cheap date. These days, what could be better than that?

How do you get the ball rolling? Start with these three steps:

1) CFLs. Today is the day. Take a deep breath and screw a CFL into every heavy use fixture in your house. If even half of us do this, we significantly decrease the need for new power plants.

2) Thermostat. Turn that sucker down to 68. Sweaters are the new sexy! Blankets are cozy. Cuddling is some of the best fun you can have indoors. Seriously, folks, our grandmothers gave up meat and pantyhose for the war effort; surely we can snuggle up.

3) Commissioners. Our Kansas Corporation Commissioners hold our energy efficiency future in their hands. If you want robust energy efficiency programs from your utility (check back tomorrow for a profile of Midwest Energy’s exciting HowSmart program), let the Commissioners know it.

Come on, Kansas! It’s time to lighten our load, enrich our bank accounts, and make the world a better place. The new energy economy is recovery for Main Street – let’s get on with it!

And we can look forward to the beginning of a beautiful relationship.