FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!
Posted on 10/28/2005 6:43:53 AM PDT by GreenFreeper
WASHINGTON — As the central character in President Bush's new energy conservation program, the Energy Hog is no gentle, sweet little Smokey Bear. This villainous cartoon pig consumes energy like candy and evokes little sympathy. Yet he is the chief symbol of America's notorious fuel-wasting habits in the Bush administration's multimedia campaign to exhort people to use less energy in all walks of life. To the Energy Department and energy-efficiency experts who support the new conservation program, this campaign, introduced in the wake of higher oil prices, is badly needed to persuade Americans to take sensible steps to save energy. It is especially targeted at children ages 8 to 13 who can play an Internet game to try to stop the Energy Hog's nefarious energy-wasting antics. At energyhog.com, where the game is available, a player, whether young or old, has to work fast to electronically caulk a window to keep the Energy Hog out. "He's the Smokey the Bear of the 21st century," said Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a partner in the government's conservation effort. "People may be motivated to save energy, but they may not know how." To its critics, it is yet another voluntary government plan that is bound to fail, such as former President Jimmy Carter's wearing of a sweater in the White House to try to induce people to turn down their thermostats. Conservatives lambasted Carter for using symbolism to deal with energy problems, and the program was a political bust.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
At energyhog.com, where the game is available, a player, whether young or old, has to work fast to electronically caulk a window to keep the Energy Hog out."If they want a poster boy for the Energy Hog, they can put President Bush's mug up there for jetting around the country for useless photo ops to try to bring his poll numbers back up," Taylor said.
This ought to be good!
FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!
Energy campaign runs out of steam?.............
I'm turning down the heat because it costs 450.00 per oil delivery.
Price rationing works.
What a waste of money. Do people really need the government to tell them how to save energy? I mean, it's right there at their energy provider's website and at least SCEG sends out mailers in my power bill every so often listing ways to save. Not to mention being able to do an internet search on 'energy conservation' and getting tons of hits. If people are interested in and/or care about saving energy they can and will easily find the information they need, if they aren't, they won't. I don't see how much difference this program is really going to make.
A widespread campaign to conserve energy might temporarily reduce costs but we need a sound energy policy.
Just what, pray tell, is a FR banned site?
Well I suppose there is something to be said about the site being aimed at kids. Not exactly a good use of tax payer money but I doubt many kids would log onto a local energy provider to find out info on conservation.
No, the article was posted on the Journal News and we aren't allowed to post from that site. I just happened to find the same article printed in the Tribune a while back.
I'm with WITA. What do you mean, "not allowed" - by whom?
When I tried to link to the Journal News I got a message (from FR) that they do not allow excerpted articles from their site.
A few months ago, I scoped a nametag on a fellow at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin: "Gifford Pinchot". Turns out he really is the descendant of a man I consider to be the father of right thinking conservation and resource management. He is the founder of the Bainbridge Graduate Center, which I believe is bringing applied sustainable industry practices to the business and professional communities.
http://www.bgiedu.org/
"The outgrowth of conservation, the inevitable result, is national efficiency." -Pinchot
That pretty much sums up his land ethic.
Pinchot and Muir did not meet at the Olympia Hotel and split over conservation versus aesthetic preservation at that supposed encounter, as so many "environmentalists" contend, as Rachael Carson reported, erroneously. They did split, but over another issue, and the camps divided. This is from my son's history Prof.
How much energy would be saved by shutting down the Department of Energy?
I thought the high energy prices would engender conservation all by themselves. Obviously we're all too dumb to get a clue when prices soar.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.