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U.S. Lags U.K., France, China in Energy Efficiency

Heartland Consumer Power District honcho Mike McDowell, who blogs mostly to tout his own organization and rub environmentalists noses in the dirt, notes that the United States stinks at energy efficiency. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy finds that we rank ninth in energy efficiency, behind the UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Australia, the European Union as a whole, and even China.

Each American consumes the equivalent of 4.7 tons of oil each year to keep warm, get around, enjoy plastics, etc. Each Brit uses 2.1 tons of oil each year.

Asking Americans to use less energy isn't a plot to reduce their quality of life or subject them to U.N. control. It's Daugaardian self-reliance... and a recipe for economic competitiveness with our efficiency-minded global neighbors:

In the last decade, the country has made "limited or little progress toward greater efficiency," according to the report. Unlike many other nations, the U.S. has yet to set a national energy savings goal &ndash resulting instead in a hodgepodge of state standards.

"The U.K. and the leading economies of Europe are now well ahead of the United States when it comes to energy efficiency," said ACEEE Executive Director Steven Nadel. "This is significant because countries that use energy more efficiently require fewer resources to achieve the same goals, thus reducing costs, preserving valuable natural resources, and creating jobs" [Tiffany Hsu, "U.S. Wastes More Energy Than Europe, China," Los Angeles Times, 2012.07.12].

Ride that bike, dial that AC back a degree, spend a bit more for that thicker insulation.

19 Comments

  1. Steve Sibson 2012.07.16

    I thought you Fabian Socialist Keynsians liked consumption as an economic development model. And your South Dakota Mag column was very biased. Do you think I could get equal ink?

  2. tonyamert 2012.07.16

    Um, could it also be that on average the square footage of a typical European house is about half of that of a USA house? Or that most life necessities are within walking distance for most Europeans as opposed to the generally spread out American country?

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.07.16

    Biased and right, Steve. Talk to Bernie... or just put up a post on your own blog explaining why bike trails and energy conservation really are U.N. plots to control your life.

    Sure could be, Tony... an example that we might do well to follow in providing post-boom housing.

  4. Justin 2012.07.16

    Ad hominem attacks and changing the subject. There must be a neocon nearby. And he spent the time touting supply side economics, the primary policy behind our national debt. Hooray.

  5. Ken Blanchard 2012.07.16

    China is more energy efficient than the U.S.? The things you believe.

  6. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.07.16

    The China numbers do warrant closer attention. Their overall score is higher than ours. They outperform us in efficiency in buildings and transportation, but we outperform them in industry. We rock over China on the amount of energy used to generate GDP. We get a billion dollars of GDP out of 100 tons of oil; the Chinese need 242 tons.

    But eight nations on the tons-oil/billion-GDP chart (Table 5, page 5) use less energy for each billion dollars of GDP they crank out. Japan does it best at 57 tons per billion dollars. The EU's at 71. Even Brazil somehow gets a billion dollars out of 91 tons of oil. Brazil's a big country. They have to drive through jungles and fight pirahna. But they generate wealth more efficiently than we do. What's up with that?

  7. Donald Pay 2012.07.16

    China is pretty far ahead of us on energy issues. China has gone on a building binge, and they've taken pains to build energy efficiency into new construction. My daughter lived in Kunming for a time. Most of the housing there and other sunny places utilizes solar water heaters. They have a pretty decent rail system.

  8. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    "the primary policy behind our national debt"

    That would be the "Fabian Socialist Keynsians". And I am not a supply side economic type. I am a free and competitive market type. The national debt represents funding on economic items that the free competive market deems inefficient and a violation of the cost/benefit rule.

  9. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    "energy conservation"

    Again you fail to reconcile that policy with your Fabian Socialist Keynsian consumption policies regarding economics.

  10. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    This new world will require us to understand that humans are an integral part of nature and to accept the limitations this will impose. And it is one in which we are all global citizens: what we do affects the world and what others do affects us. The subtle differences between public and private policies and ownership will erode.

    http://www.clubofrome.org/?p=4632

  11. Bill Fleming 2012.07.17

    That's right, Stevie. Time to put on your big boy pants and say goodby to your imaginary friends.

  12. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    You mean say goodbye to freedoms and land ownership. That is why Cory is so happy about it...he thinks he will have more places to ride his bike...as long as the New World Theocrats will let him.

  13. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    This is for those (including readers of South Dakota Magazine) who have not heard of the Club of Rome before:

    So, what exactly is the Club of Rome and who are its members? Founded in 1968 at David Rockefeller’s estate in Bellagio, Italy, the CoR describes itself as “a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity.” It consists of current and former Heads of State, UN beaureacrats, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business leaders from around the globe.

    Many people have heard of the Tri-Lateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. What do they have in common with the CoR? They were all founded by Rockefeller. The head hancho’s at each organization sit on the Board of the CoR. The T-LC and the CFR are really just the Public Relations unit of the CoR, for the CoR is where the buck stops.

    I have been tirelessly talking about Agenda 21, so I hope that people are aware of this little nugget of legislation by now. It was the outcome of the Club of Rome, a think-tank that provides ‘suggestions’ to the United Nations. We are currently seeing all these ‘suggestions’ coming to fruition as current legislation bombards us daily as America is being radically transformed. This transformation is no accident, and it is not aimless nor mindless. It has been carefully construed and orchestrated. It is the work of the Club of Rome.

    http://recyclewashington.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/unraveling-the-club-of-rome-part-1/

  14. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    So Larry, how many of those donors are on board the Club of Rome and the Agenda 21 that you and Cory love so much?

  15. larry kurtz 2012.07.17

    Whatever it takes to expose the religion industry works for me, Steve.

  16. Steve Sibson 2012.07.17

    The religion industry is the New Age Theocracy that is setting up the New World Order's one-world government which is using the environment as the vehicle to garner their control. Larry, that is your religion.

  17. larry kurtz 2012.07.17

    It's true, Steve: that I don't have a religious bone in my body would be a lie.

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