Comments on: Will Energy Conservation Ever Make Any Difference?

By:

captainb — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:38:34 +0000

New gadgets and fashion are emerging every day, leading us to buy without rationally thinking trough if we really need that product or not. Thoughtless buying leads to the ingestion of all the natural resources and to the endless growth of garbage piles, thous killing our planet.
If you think too, that this is a problem let’s do something about it. Let’s keep just one week, for starters, when we would think about if we really need the product we are about to buy, and if we don’t need it let’s put it back on the shelf. June 1-7. Spread the word.

think.lydo.org

Unplugged team

By:

Brian Cesarotti — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:02:30 +0000

Conservation in terms of just consuming less, if not done on a widespread scale, could also make the problem worse. When you save money, you generally either save it or buy more goods. If you buy more goods, you are using up more energy, unless you make a specific effort not to. If you save it, it allows 10X as much money to be loaned out which causes growth and more energy used. You also have jevon’s paradox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

Cheney may have been right when he said

“conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy”