Environmental Conference about the consumer

A few weeks ago I attended the EUEC (energy and environment conference) right here in Tucson. As a first time “green” reporter I wanted to learn more about current environmental issues and thought the conference would be just the place to go. In addition to various sessions and speakers, companies are invited by the conference to host booths in a large ballroom. This is where I went. I wandered from booth to booth asking representatives from companies around the world what can be done help reduce carbon emissions.

Here is what leaders in the field said consumers should do:

1) change old light bulbs to new compact fluorescent light bulbs (GAI)
-energy savings of approx $600 million per year (Energy Star)

2) change energy habits (GAI)
-reduce, reuse, recycle

3) hybrid electric vehicles (epri)
-they use less energy than gas powered cars. Learn how it works.

4) turn off appliances (epri)
-even when appliances are turned off are using energy. Learn how.

5) Use more efficient toilets, sinks and low flow shower heads.
-showers, toilets and running sinks use a lot of our water supply. Learn more.

6) Replace your old fridge with a new one
-Fridges are energy drains...especially living in the desert where they have to work a little harder most of the time. Replacing your old fridge with a new more energy efficient one could save you big bucks...learn more.

7) Look into solar energy
-the energy saving potential is huge here in Arizona if we could only harvest the sun that beats down on us more than 300 days per year. learn what is going on in Arizona.

8) Investigate the companies you buy from
-make sure you arn't buying products made by companies that pollute.

Ok, so these recommendations are great and may help reduce a few carbon footprints. But, I couldn’t help but look at the larger picture. So what if I change one light bulb in my house, or shorten my shower by 5 minutes. I am sure there are other companies out there being wasteful and eating up all of my carbon reduction with their over emission. But then I realized this blog is not about what consumers can do…it’s about what government and small business are doing/should be doing to go green.

After perusing the ballroom at the Westin filled with large corporations plugging their green products and saying that the key lies in the hands of the consumer, I was left unconvinced. I have always thought that while; yes “the people” have the biggest say in whatever happens in a democracy…I was not convinced that the key to reducing carbon emissions was really the responsibility of the consumer.

I attended a session where Jacquelyn Jackson, one of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s representatives, about a solar power initiative in Arizona. As I sat in on the session I began to feel better about my cynicism. As it turns out Arizona has an enormous amount of sunshine every year, something you will never have to remind an Arizonan of, and the potential to produce OVER 150% of the state’s energy demand with solar energy, according to Jackson. Sadly…less than 1% of our energy today comes from solar power!

Giffords is currently lobbying for a bill that would “safeguard vital individual and commercial tax incentives for installing solar energy systems.” Now doesn’t it make more sense for politicians to rally for new, environmentally friendly ways to reduce carbon emissions rather than have millions of consumers rushing to the market to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs? Well, that would just mean all those old light bulbs are headed straight for the local landfill. It seems entirely counterproductive to have consumers replace all of these old technologies, filling the landfills with old products and eating up energy to create new products.