Energy efficiency equals power to the people

I applaud Jerry Sternberg’s critique of post-9/11 energy policy in the United States [“The Gospel According to Jerry: Power to the People,” March 7]. Our acting White House administration, steered by Big Energy in closed-door policy meetings, opted for short-term profit and war over true national security. Instead of addressing our energy addiction, they “sent our bravest and finest young people into a futile war under false pretenses and told the American people to go shopping while (raising) the rebates on gas-guzzling vehicles.”

Jerry is wise to that fiasco, so why has he fallen for the same old rhetoric, this time dished up by Progress Energy? This corporation has become rich by building new power plants and selling energy. Like electricity itself, they follow an established path until they meet sufficient resistance. Progress Energy suggests that the proposed Woodfin plant will only run 10 percent of the time—when demand occasionally peaks above generating capacity. Once built, however, similar cash cows run closer to 80 percent of the time, with excess power sold at a premium to other power-hungry neighbors. With a foot in the door, Progress Energy secures their profits while externalizing costs such as pollution, lowered property values, and health crises. Who pays those bills?

In other areas of their vast territory, Progress Energy has already been forced to promote conservation instead of building new peak-generation plants. They already know how to reduce peak demand through conservation, so why not do it here in WNC? Because too many of us are willing to turn a blind eye to old-school profiteering, unnecessary energy consumption, increased asthma rates and rising global temperatures.

Now is the time to demand energy efficiency, starting right here in our own back yard.