Tiny Choices Pep Talk
By Karina | October 3, 2007
This might be a bit of a downer for a Wednesday morning (“hump day!”), but I came across these kind of downer ads from architecture 2030 [via treehugger] and I wanted to bring them up and discuss them at Tiny Choices.
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The ads points out that there are 151 new coal fired power plants in development today, and then points out how a number of state and local conservation initiatives are essentially meaningless:
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every household
If every household in the US changed a 60-watt incandescent light bulb to a compact fluorescent…
The CO2 emissions from just two medium-sized coal-fired power plants each year would negate this entire effort.
My gut reaction when I read this is “oh ho! Aren’t YOU all being sharp little haters! Stop your harshing!” But that’s because I am a little prickly when it comes to Tiny Choices, and I don’t want people to read these ads and use them as incentive to not make any changes at all.
I mean, Of COURSE I agree with their final message:
NO MORE COAL
Without coal, all the positive efforts underway can make a difference.
Over an 11-year period (1973-1983), the US built approx. 30 billion square feet of new buildings, added approx. 35 million new vehicles and increased real GDP by one trillion dollars while decreasing its energy consumption and CO2 emissions.We don’t need coal, we have what we need: efficient design and proven technologies. Today, buildings use 76% of all the energy produced at coal plants.By implementing The 2030 Challenge* to reduce building energy use by a minimum of 50%, we negate the need for new coal plants.
This is a message that absolutely needs to be heard by planners, politicians, and developers. People who build new stores and homes and buildings should be reducing energy use. Buildings should be retrofit to use less energy at the same time. And we DON’T need coal. We’re smarter and stronger than that. We have proven abilities and technologies for efficiency. What we need is a smart new energy paradigm, where conservation and efficiency is treated as the first energy source, and we amend it with other sources – traditional or alternative – in order to meet our (greatly reduced) demand.
But I don’t want y’all to worry that our Tiny Choices don’t make a difference. They DO. of course they do! Without a group of people first making these Tiny Choices, then progress will not come to the mainstream. It takes a small group of people to take these first steps in order to prove that 1. it can be done, 2. that people will do it, and 3. that people will pay a premium in our market economy to make these changes. Once these three things are done, THEN capitalism will pick up the tiny choices and implement them on a larger (and more efficient and effective) scale.
Of course, this also means that we have to stay aware of what larger groups and corporations are doing as they implement tiny choices. We can’t just say that people are making good decisions and leave it at that – there has to be some kind of transparency and accountability involved as well. And again, that’s where consumers come into play. This is how capitalism and democracy work to best effectiveness. So stay informed! continue to make Tiny Choices! And inform others!
As Margaret Mead once said (now ubiquitously):
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Topics: Media | 4 Comments »
Check out Environmental Defense, all on top of the Tiny Choice issues:
“As part of the landmark deal, the new buyers, Texas Pacific Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., agreed to withdraw applications for eight coal-fired power plants proposed in Texas and adopt an unprecedented set of environmental initiatives, including a pledge to support a mandatory cap on carbon emissions…”
that is great news!
Check out this US Carbon Footprint Map, an interactive United States Carbon Footprint Map, illustrating Greenest States to Cities. This site has all sorts of stats on individual State & City energy consumptions, demographics and much more down to your local US City level…
http://www.eredux.com/states/
[...] love this. It’s true! And you know that I am a fan of the pep talk – I think that this editorial does a great job of pointing out very clearly how bogged down we are [...]