Saving the Climate for Fun and Profit

By Amory Lovins Posted Thu Jun 7, 2007 4:37pm PDT

Enough about the climate problem. Let’s talk climate solutions.

We’re toast if we don’t stop messing up the climate. But pundits and politicians keep telling us that saving the climate will cost us dearly—in dollars, lifestyles, even liberties. So must we choose between our money and our lives?

The truth is just the opposite: protecting the climate is not costly but profitable. That’s right: what we must do to stop global warming (whether or not you think it’s real) will not cost you extra; it will save you money, because saving fuel costs less than buying fuel.

Those little carbon-dioxide (CO2) molecules that fly out of our tailpipes and smokestacks, double-glaze the planet, trap heat, and threaten to unravel the fabric of life all have an invisible price tag called an energy bill. But using smarter technologies to wring far more work out of our fuels and electricity can give us exactly the same hot showers and cold beer with less energy, less CO2, lower bills, less guilt, and less climate change. It’s as simple as that.

Two-fifths of the CO2 emitted worldwide comes from burning oil, two-fifths from fueling power plants. In the next few weeks I’ll describe how to get America completely off oil at one-fourth the cost of buying the stuff, and how to save three-quarters of our electricity more cheaply than just running a coal or nuclear power plant, even if building it cost nothing. I’ll describe how smart companies are already making billions this way—and how you can get your share.

Stay tuned for solutions!

 
Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org)


Winning the Oil Endgame offers a strategy for ending US oil dependence.  Download it for free or buy a copy today: http://www.oilendgame.com/

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