Energy is on our minds. Energy alternatives and energy efficiency articles are weekly, if not daily, items in our newspapers. Last week, The Washington Post‘s home section had an amusing, somewhat informative story about a home energy audit in its Thursday Home section. A worthwhile read that will, we can hope, get a few more people to take the sensible step of getting an energy audit. (Before doing so, highly recommend some reading and, perhaps, doing the ‘online’ version to be better educated when the auditor hits the house.) An energy audit, whether of home or nation, is a sensible part of taking steps to Make Energy CENTS from the Home to the Globe. Sadly, the Post didn’t rest on its laurels.
Today’s Metro section front page has the uneven (writing politely) Energy Costs Generating Light-Bulb solutions. The author, Lisa Rein, gets facts wrong (no, those “twisty, low-energy light bulbs” don’t use 1/3rd of electricity of incandescents, but about 1/4th (27 percent)), takes political rhetoric at face value (no, Governor Kaine’s target of a 19 percent reduction in carbon footprint doesn’t merit the words “aggressive goal”, espcially considering that this is less than half the target the International Panel on Climate Change calls for developed nations to undertake), and repeats Corporate greenwashing (Dominion Virginia Power doesn’t merit being put forward as some sort of poster child for energy savings, even as it brags about have “sold 2.4 million low-energy bulbs and received thens of thousands of hits on its Web site of section of energy-saving tips”.). This article is a good example of general beat (local) reporter taking on a subject of substance, where expertise might actually matter.
Energy Efficiency (negawatts, negagallons) is one of the top opportunities for the United States to change its path toward a more sensible energy future. It is a profitable path, that can quickly pay off. The opportunities are too poorly understood, in no small part due to poor communication like this Post piece.
In the article, Rein uses one example of an actual consumer. In this case, someone who has invested substantially in energy efficiency and is uncertain of actual financial benefit. (My 50 percent drop in electricity use, even as a good portion of heating moved from natural gas to electricity, might have provided an alternative perspective.)
Read this paragraph:
Advocates of energy-efficiency programs say today’s strategies are more refined because of new technology. The twisty, low-energy light bulbs, which use one-third of the power of conventional ones, didn’t exist a decade ago. Hot-water heaters, stoves and other appliances burn far less power now than they used to.
Consider the tone and the word-choices, starting with the first words. “Advocate says” means that his is a ‘he says, she says’ environment; ‘fair and balanced’ reporting focused on having ‘two sides’ rather than focusing on facts. And, why not actually provide facts and figures as to actual facts of energy efficiency changes (refrigerators, 20 years ago, averaged 1750 kWh/year and now are in the range of 500 kWh/year).
Even more impressive (depressing) is the turthiness and untruths populating the “reader” comments. Let’s take a look at a few of these;
Konyha wrote:
In times of cold climates, the benefits of energy-saving bulbs is marginal since the heat of incandescant bulbs is 100% recovered in heating the house.
No, Konyha, wrong. This issue lowers the value of moving from incandescent to compact fluorescent, but only on the margins. This comment also leaves out that most of the year is not heating season
poppadata wrote:
Have you forgotten about the disposal problem of the mercury in those bulbs?Under MAINE LAW, if you break one you have to notify DEP of the mercury hazard, and a hazmat team will be dispatched to clean it up. You could be billed for it.
Guess where all the old bulbs are going?
AHHHHHHHH!!!! Time to call in Snopes, which discusses Maine in some detail. No, “Poppadata”, what you are selling is not truth, but old-wives’ tale truthiness.
blakely1 wrote:
The twisty lightbulbs just don’t put out enough light. Now you can’t find a new lamp that
has enough wattage to read.
Huh? Don’t quite know how my family and friends get any reading down since we only have lights that, according to blakely1, don’t have “enough wattage to read.”
And, so on …
Note: Of course, to ensure that “truthiness” is multipled, the web ad when taking a look at the Post article was from a Clean Coal astroturf organization.