Political Solutions

Implement energy efficiency

Forty percent of our country’s total global warming pollution is produced through electricity generation, more than any other source.
Thus the most direct way to reduce global warming pollution is to decrease what has been thus far an insatiable demand for power.

There are two ways to increase our energy efficiency:• Adopt an energy efficiency portfolio standard (EEPS)
• Adopt energy-efficient building codes (EEBC)

Energy Efficient Portfolio Standards
The U.S. EPA reports that energy efficiency portfolio standards have been enacted in only nine states nationwide. Only one–Illinois–is in the Midwest, and there, the EEPS is only a goal, not a requirement.

Here’s how an EEPS works.

In planning future electricity needs, utilities rely on demand forecasts–how much additional “load” will need to be powered. Utilities then determine how this “load” growth will be met.

Now imagine anticipated load growth being cut in half, or cut entirely. That’s what an EEPS is all about–using energy efficiency to scale back future demand so that new power plants aren’t needed at all, and perhaps so the oldest, most-polluting plants can be retired.

Energy Efficient Building Codes
The greatest amount of electricity is consumed in our buildings, both residential and commercial. Thus the perfect complement to an EEPS is the adoption of building codes for all types of construction that require certain energy efficient elements to be included in all buildings.

The number of states that have adopted one or both of these codes is considerably larger than the number that have adopted EEPS’s. States that have adopted the most up-to-date codes are shown in green; those that have adopted a previous version are in blue. Non-adopters are in white.

States adopting energy efficient commercial building code