Energy Reduction

Today, former United States Vice President, Al Gore, praised Obama’s stimulus plan for its investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmentally friendly cars, and the harnessing of alternative energies.

It was Al Gore’s documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, that brought to my attention the severity of global warming. The United States is one of the world’s most significant emitters of greenhouse gasses and it seems only logical that it be involved in a cap-and-trade system, which is an approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the pollution emissions. Unlike his predecessor, Obama is fully committed to this system and it is another step towards a greener America.

In addition to the construction of more energy efficient buildings, some part of the economic stimulus plan can be used to modify existing building to make them more energy efficient. There are over 300 billion square feet of existing built space in the United States alone. Retrofitting existing buildings will have a profound impact on energy reduction. Most un-renovated buildings today use up to three times more energy than they should. According to the U.S Energy Information Agency, the worst energy performers were constructed between 1959 and 1989. Maybe we could start there.