Hot, Flat, and Crowded 5

This week I read something that gave me hope for the future. The passages were about how one person can make a big difference. Also it showed me that a little change can make a huge difference like the fight over air conditioner efficiency,
The Clinton administration, late in its second term, ordered that the air conditioner energy-efficiency standard be raised from SEER 10 to SEER 13, which, once implemented, constituted about a 30 percent improvement: more cooling for less electricity…Shortly after the Bush administration took office, it decided to roll the standard back to SEER 12, only about a 20 percent…The Natural Resources Defense Council and ten states sued to reverse… the action and won. (Friedman 273)
Basically when the Democrats were in power they tried to increase energy efficiency, but when the Republicans were in power they tried to decrease it just enough so many would not know how big a change it actually was. Thankfully, someone was watching and turned the tables on the Bush administration. How big exactly was the difference between SEER 12 and SEER 13 you might ask? According to Friedman, “Only about twelve 400-megawatt power plants” (273). It seems ridiculous that one level is that big a difference, but to me the bigger shock is the fact that Bush tried to cut it down one level. It is even more shocking when one learns the amount we saved from the bill; almost 250 kilowatt hours and $21 billion in electric bills through 2030 and the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the air by it is the equivalent of taking 34 cars off the road every year (274). That is the thing, though, about helping the environment, it doesn’t have to be a massive bill to make a big difference. Later on Friedman tells a story about a man who made a large difference name Noah Horowitz. Noah started to see vending machines popping up every where in places like schools, hospitals, and supermarkets. He wondered if he could lighten the burden for some of these places because after all the school would have to pay for the electricity that runs the machine. He went to the companies, but they said no because they aren’t the ones footing the bill so he tried a different approach and asked if they could work together on a solution. Along with Coke and Pepsi he worked on simple things like better lighting and not leaving outdoor machines on all winter. After all is said and done they expect to save 5 billion kilowatts an hour and, along with his work on tightening standards for computers, his compromise is set to save $14 billion in electricity costs by 2010 according to EPA (280). To me, that just shows how anyone can make a difference in the world. Noah just took one simple device, a vending machine, and therefore saved billions of dollars with simple fixes. Along with that is billions of pounds of carbon dioxide that will not make it into the atmosphere. Imagine if everyone took one electronic device and brainstormed ways to make it more efficient. Although that is more of a wild fantasy we can all do little things to use less electricity like make sure all of our house lights are off when we go to sleep or when we go on a family vacation. If one man can make that big a difference; what would happen if everyone called these companies? We need to work together, otherwise nothing is going to happen and I don’t think any of us can afford that.