Platform - Green Party US Section III. Ecological Sustainability B. Energy B1. Encourage ConservationEncourage conservation and a significant decrease in our energy consumption, institute national energy efficiency standards.
With five percent of the world's population, U.S residents consume twenty-six percent of the world's energy.
U.S. consumption of electricity is almost nine times greater than the average for the rest of the world. These are not sustainable levels.
- The U.S. must retrofit its building stock for energy efficiency. Most U.S. residents live in homes that require heat during the winter, and most are inadequately insulated. Buildings in the South require air conditioning during the summer.
Fuel shortages, power outages, and energy price hikes could bring not just discomfort, but a massive increase in mortality from cold and heat.
Millions of buildings can and must be super-insulated and, as much as possible, provided with alternative heat sources (passive solar, geothermal, or district heating).
- Energy efficiency standards similar to those in California must be adopted nationally.
The energy efficiency standards adopted there in the late 1970s have resulted in overall electricity-use remaining flat over the past three decades while the population has steadily increased.
During the same time period electricity use in the rest of the U.S. has climbed along with population growth.
- There are many different ways to increase energy efficiency and the best path for one region of the country might differ from that of another.
We will need concerted effort to increase efficiency in every sector of our economy.
Technologies exist that, if widely implemented, can result in huge energy savings.
- Cogeneration and use of waste heat to generate electricity should be encouraged.
- A carbon tax, which the Green Party supports, would serve as an important market incentive to increase efficiency.