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The Urgency of Energy Efficiency Sierra Club's Statement on Tools to Increase Energy Efficiency The Sierra Club places the highest priority on energy efficiency. Efficiency is the cheapest and most effective way to decrease the adverse environmental and national security effects of energy use. Increasing our energy efficiency can help us reduce air and global warming pollution from existing fossil power plants, avoid the need for additional polluting power plants, and save consumers money on their energy bills. Efficiency is the only resource available in large enough quantity at a sufficiently low price that it can undercut old, dirty coal plants and allow a net reduction of CO2 during this decade, and it is the only carbon reduction strategy for the transportation sector that is feasible with existing technology. A strong program will eliminate only a few percent of net consumption per year at best, so it is neither radical nor impractical. Efficiency has a proven track record. The U.S. economy was 42% more efficient in 2000 than in 1970 as measured by energy per dollar of economic activity. Energy efficiency has added more total energy capability to the U.S. than all fossil, nuclear and renewable energy resources combined over the same period. Ongoing efficiency gains cut energy consumption from what would otherwise be 4% per year to an actual 1.5 to 2% annually. Sierra Club supports: enacting and raising standards to require increased energy efficiency in cars, buildings, appliances and other energy-using products. Substantial savings, well over 40% of total consumption of gasoline, electricity and heating fuels are feasible using only money-saving technology; implementing tax incentives for producing and investing in vehicles, buildings, and appliances that are energy efficient; increased funding for research, development, and deployment of energy efficiency technologies; Sierra Club supports work to increase consumer awareness of the need to reduce energy consumption through habits of energy conservation and to increase knowledge of and consumption use of energy efficient products. Because energy engages such a large part of the total economy, there are a large number of initiatives, programs, policies, laws and incentive strategies that have been demonstrated to increase the rate of efficiency, which are too numerous to list here. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use