As the Extraction World Turns: Peabody Doubles Profits, 37 Dead Chinese Miners, 70,000 Indian Children in Mines

photo: UNICEF / OurEnergy

Thanks for the reality check, Mr. Biggers.


Conservative estimates indicate Americans squander at least 50% of the electricity we consume. Think of TV's, stereos, computers idling in standby, that's 10%. Plug them into a power strip and shut it off when your not using them, and we save mountains of coal. Turn off the AC at night, open your windows and breathe fresh air, more mountains of coal. Turn up your fridge and freezer a couple of degrees, more mountains of coal. Turn of lights when you leave a room, more mountains of coal.


This little stuff adds up to tremendous sums of coal, CO2, and money saved when you multiply it across populations. All this before you even talk about adding weather stripping and insulation in homes and businesses, planting trees for shade in hot climates, buying high efficiency appliances, or re-wiring with heavier gauge wire (which pays for itself in months for businesses that burn a lot of electricity -- see rmi.org). And we won't even talk about transportation.

And now China and India want to be nearly as wasteful and destructive as Americans. Before they do, I wonder if we could set a good example for conservation and efficiency (and save piles of money).

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost