Happy Energy Efficiency Day!
Today, Metrus joins a vast network of advocates, companies, government agencies, utilities and others to celebrate #EEDay2018. While it’s not a well-known national “day” (thankfully the kids still have school!), it’s an important occasion because it recognizes the fact that doing something that improves your bottom line and creating a more sustainable planet aren’t mutually exclusive.
As the current Administration continues to look the other way on climate change, an array of other entities are filling the void. We recently made significant commitments to We Are Still In and The Better Buildings Challenge – two initiatives that are on the frontlines fighting climate change. This week, PSE&G, the New Jersey’s largest regulated utility, proposed a $4 billion plan to make the Garden State greener. Meanwhile, local governments from coast to coast are also seeing the benefit in creating energy policies that promote sustainability.
Energy efficiency is clearly trending in the right direction. Check out these data points from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy:
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Energy efficiency employs 2.25 million people in the US today more than the number of people who work in the coal, oil, gas, electricity and even renewable energy industries combined;
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Since 1990, savings from energy efficiency gains have averted the need to build 313 large power plants and has delivered cumulative savings of nearly $790 billion for Americans.
It goes even deeper than that. Here’s what Ben Sav from the Institute for Policy Studies writes about the impact energy efficiency can have at the human level:
“Energy efficiency isn’t just about lowering power bills or limiting pollution. It can also be a tool for mitigating some of the deepest inequalities in our society. Energy efficiency addresses the inequalities of energy insecurity and environmental injustice at both ends, by making energy bills more affordable for vulnerable people while also reducing the need for energy production (and therefore reducing the associated pollution).”
Whether it’s retrofitting a large warehouse with HVAC upgrades and hot water controls (us) or converting to more energy efficient light bulbs in your living room (you), every act of energy efficiency is worth celebrating. Today and every day.