| December
26, 2007:
Energy Conservation News
Interview
with Brian Keane PResident of Smart Power www.smartpower.org |
Mike
Carruthers:
Getting consumers - people like you and me - to really conserve energy has been
a tough sell. Because to conserve energy means, to many of us, to sacrifice.
Brian Keane:
We actually did focus groups among college students
today. You talk to them about conservation and they will talk about Jimmy Carter.
And these guys weren't even alive when Jimmy Carter was president.Brian
Keane, President of Smart Power a non-profit organization that promotes wise and
alternative energy use, says you can conserve energy without the kind of sacrifice
Jimmy Carter used to talk about. This
isn't about buying blankets for your water heater; it's not about buying even
a new car - or even a new light bulb for that matter. It's simply being smarter
about the energy that you are currently using. And
being smarter means doing all of the things we already know; like turning the
light off when you leave a room. The
more powerful you can make a consumer feel, the less power they'll use. That if
you can remind them that when you turn off a light you are saving $14.00 a year
just on unnecessary costs - that means something to them. When
I was a kid my parents used to tell me to turn off the lights and not waste energy
but things have changed. What
we've seen in our research has been fascinating. Where you actually have teenagers
getting in arguments with their parents because the teenager is trying to turn
off a light and the parent comes back into the room and says, "Why'd you
turn off the light I just walked out for two minutes?" And the kids like,
"Hey I'm just trying to save energy." Tomorrow,
easy ways to save a lot of energy - I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You
Should Know.
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