Consumer choice and global change

Published 7:00 am Saturday, July 15, 2006

Imagine the Lynwood Theatre parking lot filled with hybrid vehicles and “Smart cars.”

It’s a hopeful vision, and one you might come away with after a screening of “An Inconvenient Truth,” wherein former vice president (and 2000 presidential election winner by popular vote) Al Gore explores the dramatic climatic change overtaking our planet and its ecosystems.

Persuasive?

“Gore was actually a really good speaker on this stuff,” one islander commented after a recent showing, “and not the cigar store Indian he was during the election. His passion came through loud and clear.”

Our viewer found the end of the film, when Gore finally gets to the what we can do at the consumer level to help – and suggests that indeed, all is not lost – uplifting. “It wouldn’t really take that much effort for us to reverse some of the problems,” our viewer mused. “The list of cities and states that have ‘adopted’ the Kyoto Protocol was a good example of how things are often changed in this country – local political will can be stronger than national political will and can eventually lead to positive national legislation. The most engaging part of the movie may in fact have been the closing credits – with suggestions on how we as individuals can help – all the way from ‘if you pray, pray with your feet,’ to contact your local congressman and if they won’t act, then run for congress yourself.”

Other islanders who’ve seen the film are thinking along those same lines. Review reader Steve Neff dropped a note through the transom this week, citing the Gore film in a brief discussion of Puget Sound Energy’s “Green Power” program, which he described as “a real opportunity to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to a reduction of ‘greenhouse gasses’ and global warming.” For a modest surcharge ($4-$10 per month on the power bill), he notes, residential power customers can purchase up to 50 percent of their kilowattage as “green power” – energy derived from such renewable resources as wind and solar power.

“Like the organic fruits and vegetables industry, green energy needs support now so that it will become more affordable and accessible to the greater community,” Neff writes. “Wind energy farms in Easatern Washington are currently producing over 260 million watts (megawatts) of non-polluting, environmentally benign energy. Additional clean energy products planned for Eastern and Central Washington will come on line much more rapidly if we as individuals, city governments, school boards and businesses commit to support green energy now. The lack of leadership by the federal government should not deter us as individuals from taking the needed actions to protect the environment. Join the drive to have all of our island’s electrical energy needs supplied by green energy by the year 2012 – the year the Kyoto agreement takes effect.”

The Green Power Program now has more than 15,800 commercial and residential customers, PSE says, who last year together purchased some 71.341 million kilowatt hours of renewable power – enough to serve 6,000 homes. Olympia and Bellingham lead the region with the most green power subscribers in PSE’s service area, but we bet Bainbridge could easily overtake those communities in terms of percentage of households participating. Information on the Green Power program is available at www.pse.com/solutions/home_greenPower.aspx or by calling the utility at (800) 562-1482.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the global environmental challenge. The most basic consumer level – household electricity – offers someplace to start, even before you buy that new hybrid.