VtHr.jpg

If John McCain is “superstitious,” then I am, I confess, “curious”. This characteristic of mine is less widely reported, of course, than McCain’s, but is what drove me to dig a little deeper into the speeches given by each of the Super Tuesday candidates. So, what did I find in the transcripts published yesterday by The New York Times? Well, for starters, not a single mention of the environment. Is this surprising to anyone else but me? Have “energy,” “conservation,” and “environment” ceased to be buzzwords in this election season? Were they ever?

When I think about my latest visit to the pump (which cost me a whopping $48) and the last check I wrote for oil to heat my house (over $600 for the third time since Thanksgiving), I boil. And don’t even get me started on my electric bill. Call me naïve, but I really can’t understand reports which indicate that the most important issue voters were considering on Tuesday was the economy.

Sure, times are tough all over, but when I see nearly every shopper in my local grocery investing in reusable bags and the store itself eliminating plastic bags, I understand that the people on the ground are taking steps to change their ways and reduce waste. A house I passed in my community is sporting solar panels, and I wondered just how affordable this energy-saving option could be. And moms dropping kids off at preschool this year seem to be driving smaller vehicles than they were last year. So if the people candidates are polling at the polls are taking these little steps hoping to make a big impact, then why aren’t the candidates themselves talking more seriously, more openly, and more frequently about ways we can all save energy and the planet?

Thankfully, digging a little further, I did find a great resource that is, in fact, talking about it. Established in 1995, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) is an ongoing project of the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) funded by the US Department of Energy. Information on this site helps guide homeowners and companies with suggestions for being more energy conscious and energy efficient and for finding ways to change over without breaking the bank. Learn more about incentives in your state @ dsireusa.org. This, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg, but we’ll keep looking for more ideas, and please send us some of your own to share.