Climate Change

Being perpetually behind on everything, I've come to you almost a week afterwards of Al Gore's groundbreaking speech in Washington to write my comments. All I can say is, how did we let this one slip through our fingers in 2000? Al Gore is such an intelligent man, and I am positive that the United States and the world would be a much better place if he had been elected(I might note that he rightfully won the election, receiving more popular votes than his opponent).
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the things that I am doing to reduce my energy consumption, and other earth-friendly things.
Squiggly bulbs! These weird looking and seemingly costly marvels of technology make perfect sense. They use about one fifth the amount of electricity of their incandescent counterparts(rough estimate, based on 13w bulb having light output of 60w incandescent), and they last about 10x longer(most incandescent bulbs last around 1000 hours, the squiggly bulbs I purchased claim 10,000). Plus, you can pick up generic versions that are just as good as the name brands. As of late, I have not been a big fan of Wal-Mart, but their recent changes have perked my ears. For the purposes of this post's topic, you can buy a 6 pack of squiggly bulbs for around $10 in their "Great Value" brand. This represents a great value indeed when you factor in the cost of the name brand, how long these bulbs last, and their energy savings. While we're on the topic of Wal-Mart, I would like to commend them on their excellent job of moving away from Chinese made goods towards American made ones.
Fuel efficient cars are a necessity, but not always a reality, especially if your budget for purchasing the vehicle is constrained. I thought the worst when I purchased my vehicle, a 1993 Ford Crown Victoria. V8, huge car, oh Jesus save me now.
But, to my pleasant surprise, the car is not at all hard on gas. It even beats my wife's car, powered by a seemingly eco-friendly four cylinder engine. So now that I am done stumping for Ford(God, the GM gods that I have worshiped for years will surely strike me down for this one), The best way to save gas in whatever you may be driving is to keep it in good running order. Spark plugs and wires, oxygen sensors, tires inflated to proper pressure(!), and regular oil changes. Do not feel bad if for some of these things you cannot afford, oxygen sensors on cars that are more recent are not exactly cheap. But do not ignore the easy ones such as keeping your tire pressures checked. You can also save gasoline by accelerating easy instead of hard. I once owned a Cadillac Sedan DeVille that I could get 24 mpg in. I sold it, and the person who purchased it from me complained often about how much gas it used. He said he was getting about 14-16 mpg. If I can see the treads of your shoes coming out of your fuel injectors, then in all likelihood you are pushing yourself too hard, and wasting a lot of gasoline.
One of the big things that has come about, and not exactly in recent years only, is central heating and air conditioning. But not everyone has it. One way to get around it in the summertime is to have an air conditioner that you can set to a particular temperature setting. This will keep you from using too much electricity from overcooling, and as an added benefit, undercooling if you are the type to turn it on and off to try and keep a steady temperature. Not to mention that its less hassle. So replace that aging beast of an air conditioner, most new models come with this handy feature. Plus, newer units probably use less energy to produce the same amount of cooling power anyway due to advances in technology.
I hope that some people have taken the time to read this post, and to consider how in their lives that they can make a difference. I would also ask for you to go to this website and explore, sign up for updates, and help out: http://www.wecansolveit.org/