Browsing through my RSS feeds today, I saw a nice little article on Time's website about energy efficiency. I've moaned from time to time about the need for efficiency and Matter Network regularly features posts with an efficiency bent.

What I like about the article, called Wasting Our Watts, is that it explains the state of U.S. energy supply and sources of energy waste in a manner that non-wonks can understand, and more importantly, care about.

The article nicely describes the complex disincentives for energy efficiency:

"The best evidence that these disincentives matter is the record of California and the Pacific Northwest, where they don't exist. In that part of the country, utilities have been aggressive promoters of efficiency, and per-capita electricity use has been stable for three decades — while soaring 50% in the rest of the country."

Another interesting tidbit mentioned in the piece was that sales of compact flourescent bulbs dropped 28% last quarter, even though the energy savings they represent could make a big difference to struggling households.

Author Michael Grunwald prescribes 3 actions to spur efficiency
1) Set Tough Standards
2) Let utilities make money saving energy
3) Stimulate the market

However, the most important aspect of the article is that it helps lend an "I-read-about-that" familiarity that's missing from energy efficiency's rep. In other words, in order to get buy-in from the general public, people need to know what they have to gain from better efficiency and what's at stake if we do nothing.