This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Being green might be easier than you think.
Rocky Mountain Power, architectural firms, homebuilders, the Salt Lake City mayor's office and the nonprofit Utah Clean Energy all have ideas about how to cut energy consumption in homes and commercial buildings.
Adopting some of those ideas could put a big dent in energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions, since buildings use 48 percent of the energy consumed in the United States.
But the key to making progress on the conservation front is not business or government; it's you and me - all of us. Consumer spending dictates what businesses sell and voters determine what policies local leaders adopt. They will be the driving force behind any significant move toward energy savings.
Once we start demanding high-efficiency homes and products, the companies that make and install them will thrive and those that cling to energy-wasting products will wither and die. Once we get serious about it, politicians who fail to respond to constituents' demands for policies and practices that reward conservation won't get elected.
But Utahns have to take the lead by buying fluorescent light bulbs, low-voltage lighting, windows that help maintain an even temperature, higher-rated insulation, and super-efficient appliances, furnaces and water heaters, or, even better, getting heat from solar power.
We must cut our power consumption and insist that new homes and government buildings meet strict standards set by energy-conservation groups that issue certificates such as Energy Star, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Utahns have a responsibility to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, since Utah produces more greenhouse gases per capita than the national average.
There is much at stake here in the West. Gov. Jon Huntsman's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Climate Change found global warming is causing a greater average temperature increase here than the average worldwide, just as studies have predicted. If carbon emissions are not substantially reduced, the panel's scientists say, Utah is in for longer and more severe droughts, wildfires and water shortages.
Energy efficiency not only can help prevent these potential disasters, but it can save money for individuals and businesses in the long term. Being green really just means being smart.