(This is one of a weekly series of posts entitled “A Centrist’s Platform”. The complete collection of Centrist’s Platform posts is available on a single page, or via a special RSS feed.)
One of the more encouraging things to have emerged from the 2008 campaign cycle has been a willingness to at least pay lip service to the idea of energy conservation.
I realize that the concepts of alternative energy development and conservation have until very recently been “unsexy”, due to the high up-front costs of development and transition, Americans’ societal disbelief in global warming, and the vested interests of established energy corporations.
However, the fact of the matter remains that we face seemingly hard limits on cheap traditional energy consumption in the face of rising global demand, as well as the additional whammies of a weaker dollar and global political instability in energy-producing regions of the world.
I would like to see our political leaders push for more movement on the development of renewable energy sources, as well as conservation.
Such changes don’t necessarily have to be earth-shattering. I’m somewhat at a loss to understand, for example, why we don’t see rules and regulations strongly encouraging the integration of PV (solar) panels in new construction projects or major renovations. Or even simple regulation, such as requiring power strips and outlets to have per-socket on-off switches, setting limits on “phantom load” draws, and requiring wall-wart-powered gadgets to have automatic shutoff-features…would be a welcome change from our current bureaucratic inaction.
Recent legislation to tighten fuel efficiency standards in new cars, pickups, and SUV’s, as well as the move to force the shift from traditional incandescent bulbs to more efficient lighting was a start.
However, with the contenders for the White House still having several months’ service in the Senate ahead of them before the November elections, wouldn’t it be nice to see some leadership on this front, if only to put actions to the campaign talking points?