Energy efficiency a great tool for creation of jobs
In 2007 while writing a talk on green building, I realized the connections between energy use in buildings and climate change. According to the International Energy Agency, buildings account for 36% of global final energy consumption and nearly 40% of total direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions.
Most of our buildings are insufficiently air sealed and insulated and need upgrades to lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Doing energy improvements on existing buildings is of paramount importance in our goal of reducing carbon emissions.
I also learned that energy efficiency is a great tool for jobs growth and economic stability. Our worst recessions have been caused or exacerbated by steep unexpected rises in fuel costs such as the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. Though the banks and Wall Street’s use of questionable lending and investment strategies helped cause the crash of 2007-2008, the rise in fuel prices contributed to the severity of the recession, with gasoline approaching $5 a gallon.
Few people remember that Exxon posted the highest corporate profits in our nation’s
history while the country was struggling to recover from the crash of the Great Recession.
The efficiency policies of the Carter administration, the first fuel economy standards, energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives along with the creation of the Energy Star program caused us to reduce our energy use from 1979 to 1983.
Our nation leads the world in energy use per person, and our president would like us to keep and improve upon that leadership role. However, the world and our economy require we take a very different role, leading by showing how much we can reduce our use of energy and rid our country of old dirty energy sources as we embrace new clean energy technologies.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy create far more jobs than the fossil fuel industry while improving the planet. The U.S. continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry while our emissions keep rising. A recent article in Forbes stated the U.S. subsidized the industry to the tune of $649 billion in 2015.
That was more than the entire defense budget, and 10 times more than our education budget. A new International Monetary Fund study shows that worldwide fossil fuel industry subsidies were $5.2 trillion in 2017, an absurd amount considering the state of the climate and the stated goals of the Paris climate accord.
Though the administration wants to roll back the ambitious fuel economy standards set by the Obama administration, the auto industry recently agreed to keep making cars sold in California more efficient to comply with that state’s ambitious climate agenda.
A study last year by GreenBiz found that without the push toward energy efficiency started by President Carter, carbon dioxide levels would be 650 parts per million instead of the 410 parts per million now.
It is time for sensible climate policy to deal with the alarming lack of progress on reducing our carbon emissions. All subsidies for fossil fuels should be eliminated; if the companies cannot compete without subsidies, they should accept being less profitable or close their operations.
Bruce Wilson, a green builder who educates about green building and climate change, lives in Upper Saucon Township with his wife.