Energy efficiency just leaves more money to squander, says study 9

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1. 

   Jon Rynn Posted 8:37 am
   29 Nov 2007

   If you want the full report......it's here

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2. 

   sleepkreep Posted 1:23 pm
   29 Nov 2007

   Of courseI've actually had this argument with a few of my friends recently. They keep saying that forcing energy efficiency on people will solve the problem.  However, history has not reflected this.  Every time we increase efficiency of something, people just buy the next size up because they can now afford it.  It's sad, but it's reality.  Combined with the fact that 40% of Americans don't believe that global warming is man made, and that 20% of those who do aren't willing to significantly change their lives, we can expect consumption to increase no matter what kind of efficiency we reach.  The only way to solve the problem is to solve where people get they're energy.  Let's hope projects like Google's can help.  

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3. 

   Colin Wright Posted 2:48 pm
   29 Nov 2007

   I'm afraid it will take rationingEventually we'll have to figure out a fair way to alot energy and resources. One scheme is Tradable Energy Quotas. The personal quotas are tradable and so set up a marketplace whereby the "energy-lean" can be justly rewarded. This would dis-encentivize large houses and gas-guzzlers.

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4. 

   GreyFlcn Posted 4:19 pm
   29 Nov 2007

   Yeap pretty muchIt's Jevon's Paradox in full swing.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

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5. 

   Tasermons Partner Posted 4:23 pm
   29 Nov 2007

   More than meets the eye....It's not solely the savings earned from energy efficiency that is a factor here.  There are also social and economic factors that caused the change.

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6. 

   racc Posted 5:30 pm
   29 Nov 2007

   People Drive Further TooJust as bad, the more efficient vehicles are, the further people drive which leads to sprawl. Likely, the first people to get hybrids, besides people that want to appear green, are people with long commutes. This allows them to continue to drive far instead of moving closer to work.

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7. 

   Tasermons Partner Posted 1:23 am
   30 Nov 2007

   I think it's the other way around...People wantin' to drive further due to energy efficient vehicles doesn't cause sprawl.  Sprawl comes first, which causes people to drive further which, in turn, (and amongst other factors) leads to demand for more energy-efficient vehicles.

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8. 

   s5 Posted 1:48 am
   30 Nov 2007

   This is why we have governmentsPeople very clearly will spread out and use more, the easier and cheaper it is to do so. That's why things like sprawl need to be heavily regulated.

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9. 

   Kristina Skierka Posted 8:55 am
   30 Nov 2007

   Efficiency Is Not About ConservationI appreciate everyone's comments, but energy efficiency is not about conservation...nor is about deprivation. This why the State of California funded different campaign projects to stress the difference between the two - conservation (e.g., shutting the lights off) has a different objective that the long-term efforts of efficiency (screwing in a CFL). While I think this report makes a good point - it also misses the point and fails to make a solid correlation. In California, where we've had 30+ years of tough building codes AND $$$ incentives for adopting energy efficiency, our use has stayed flat for the last several years while our population rose and economy grew.
   http://blog.bitepr.com/

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