(Photo: Alliance to Save Energy)

“I think the good news about energy efficiency is that there is such a return on investment when you get more energy efficient… . The National Academy of Sciences has looked at [efficiency programs], and said that we get about $20 back into the economy in avoided energy costs and in private-sector investment for every dollar we invest. If you look at the public utilities, the electric utility sector, and the investments that they make in energy efficiency, what they see in terms of avoided energy costs and investment is very significant. So, yes, it’s going to cost money. Yes, we’re going to have to find it from somewhere, but its money that if invested will return much more to the economy than it takes us as a people and as a nation to put in. And, oh, by the way, we’re going to be tackling climate change problems every step of that way.”

• Read or listen to Kateri Callahan’s interview with Monica Trauzzi, “Alliance to Save Energy’s Callahan Discusses Opportunities for Clean Energy in Stimulus,” E&ETV (11/18/08)

(Photo: Prime Minister’s Office, Denmark)

“The world is at a crossroad. We need to choose a direction that will take us safely through the 21st century. Right now, we are on the wrong track. We can continue to watch helplessly how the oil price rises and falls. Watch floods here and abroad, continue to transfer huge amounts of wealth to autocratic regimes and rely on unstable supplies of oil and gas, watch our planet grow more unlivable every day. Our will to act upon these problems goes to the very heart of who we are. Climate change will occur whether we decide to act or not. But we have the opportunity to control the process and take advantage of the transition.”

• Read “Something’s Very Cool in the State of Denmark,” By Kate Sheppard, Grist (9/25/08)
• Related: “Could the Danish Appliance Rating System Help Americans Earn an ‘A’ for Efficiency?” (Power Plug, 5/10/07)

(Photo: CPUC)

“The current regulatory model for electricity is broken. It does not encourage utilities to help people save energy, it retards renewable energy development, it discourages modernization of the grid, it fails to cut greenhouse gas emissions. We need to fundamentally rethink this model.”

• Read “Experts Talk Cleantech on Capitol Hill,” By David Ehrlich, Cleantech Group (9/12/08)

(Photo: Architecture 2030)

“Compared to cutting-edge technologies — nanotechnology, coal with carbon capture and sequestration, biomimicry — building codes seem downright stodgy and, dare I say it?, boring. Yet, much to the surprise of many, building codes are fast becoming the Titans in the battle against climate change. Able to fell with a single blow the giants on the other side of the battlefield — out-of-control greenhouse-gas emissions, thoughtless energy consumption, and gross energy inefficiency — building codes are beginning to look pretty darn sexy in their own right.”

• Read: “Your City Council Could Save the World,” By Edward Mazria, Gristmill (7/09/08)
• Download Meeting the 2030 Challenge Through Building Codes (PDF, 488 KB)

(Photo: Carbon Trust)

“Our new statistics provide stark evidence that if companies are starting to feel the bite from the economic downturn, the first place to look for cost savings should be their energy bill. There are literally millions of pounds going out of the window every day, across the UK. Our research shows that energy efficiency measures, not job cuts or salary freezes, are the cost-cutting steps businesses are considering first during this economically challenging time. It’s an encouraging sign that wise companies are realizing that cutting carbon and being green is the easiest way to make a business lean.”

• From: “Energy Efficiency Schemes ‘Could Save British Business £2.5bn a Year’,” By Terry Macalister, Guardian (7/22/08)

(Photo: Rocky Mountain Institute)

“Environmental strategy is not about manipulating regulatory systems to put your competitor at a disadvantage. It’s about redesigning your company’s processes and products so that regulation is relevant only to your competitor, not to yourself. The real leaders are going to be smart companies that see the competitive advantage in leading energy transformation in their sectors.”

• From “Using Energy More Efficiently: An Interview With the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Amory Lovins,” McKinsey Quarterly (June/July 2008) (registration required), via Yudelson Associates Blog (7/01/08)

(Photo: CARB)

“Since most of the measures in this plan are designed to make our state more energy-efficient, we believe we can predict with confidence that this is a plan that works to the benefit of the California economy.”

• Read “California Unveils Ambitious Climate Plan,” By Nichola Groom, Reuters (6/27/08)
• Audio: Listen to CARB Chairman Mary Nichols discuss the Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan on KQED’s “Forum” (6/27/08)

(Photo: TerryTamminen.com)

“California passed regulations over the past 30 years that incentivize energy-efficient appliances, buildings, renewable energy investments, and conservation. The result is that our average price per kilowatt of electricity is nearly the highest in the nation, but average bills are among the lowest. Californians consume 40 percent less electricity than average Americans — and we have plenty of flat panel TVs, hot tubs, and air conditioners in the desert — showing that energy prices are less relevant to consumers and businesses than how energy is generated and used. The same could be true for thoughtful pricing around greenhouse gases, whether imposed by strict regulation and fees or by cap-and-trade systems.”

• Read the full interview with Terry Tamminen in “The State of the Climate Change Debate,” By Saabira Chaudhuri, Fast Company, June 2008

(Photo: UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism)

“Here’s the point: cheap energy, which gives us climate change, fosters precisely the mentality that makes dealing with climate change in our own lives seem impossibly difficult. Specialists ourselves, we can no longer imagine anyone but an expert, or anything but a new technology or law, solving our problems. Gore asks us to change the lightbulbs because he probably can’t imagine us doing anything much more challenging, like, say, growing some portion of our own food. We can’t imagine it, either, which is probably why we prefer to cross our fingers and talk about the promise of ethanol and nuclear power — new liquids and electrons to power the same old cars and houses and lives.”

• Read “Don’t Give Up,” By Michael Pollan, UK Guardian (6/06/08)

(Photo: NASA)

“Building new coal-fired power plants is ill conceived. Given our knowledge about what needs to be done to stabilize climate, this plan is like barging into a war without having a plan for how it should be conducted, even though information is available. We need a moratorium on coal now, with phase-out of existing plants over the next two decades.”

• Read “Europe Turns Back to Coal, Raising Climate Fear,” By Elizabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times (4/23/08)