Courtesy Gromet
MORE.....
Posted on 05/05/2013 4:57:10 AM PDT by raybbr
Back in 2011, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) declared war on energy-efficient light bulbs, calling "sustainability" the gateway into a dystopic, Big Brother-patrolled liberal hellscape. When the lights went off during Beyoncé’s halftime set at the last Superbowl, conservative commentators from the Drudge Report to Michelle Malkin pointed blame (erroneously) at new power-saving measures at New Orleans’ Superdome. And one recent study found that giving Republican households feedback on their power use actually encourages them to use more energy.
Why do conservatives, who should have a natural inclination toward conservation, have a beef with energy efficiency? It could be tied to the political polarization of the climate change debate.
A study out in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined attitudes about energy efficiency in liberals and conservatives, and found that promoting energy-efficient products and services on the basis of their environmental benefits actually turned conservatives off from picking them. The researchers first quizzed participants on how much they value various benefits of energy efficiency, including reducing carbon emissions, reducing foreign oil dependence, and reducing how much consumers pay for energy; cutting emissions appealed to conservatives the least.
The study then presented participants with a real-world choice: With a fixed amount of money in their wallet, respondents had to "buy" either an old-school light bulb or an efficient compact florescent bulb, the same kind Bachmann railed against. Both bulbs were labeled with basic hard data on their energy use, but without a translation of that into climate pros and cons. When the bulbs cost the same, and even when the CFL cost more, conservatives and liberals were equally likely to buy the efficient bulb. But slap a message on the CFL’s packaging that says "Protect the Environment," and "we saw a significant drop-off in more politically moderates and conservatives choosing that option," said study author Dena Gromet, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
The chart below, from the report, shows how much liberals and conservatives value each argument for efficiency: While liberals (gray) valued all three equally, conservatives (white), were significantly less moved by and most at odds with liberals over the carbon-saving argument.
Courtesy Gromet
MORE.....
Do YOU want to kill the planet because YOU eat meat and use "old technology" light bulbs? Do YOU want to fund foreign extremism and ruin the environment because YOU insist on driving a "fossil" fuel vehicle instead of riding sensible public transportation or bicycling???
The pravda media is putting their thumb on the scales to help the public to decide which to choose.
It is not by coincidence that the same people who are easily suckered into buying the latest fad “green” product are the same people who helped put Obama in the White House.
Installed a digital thermostat last year. Together,
these have cut our power bill by %30 . Another factor
was our change of lifestyle when the youngest moved
away for college. Led to less lights on. We think a
lot more too about shutting off any light not in use
where applicable.
My %30 is a guess it could be more.... some things i cannot calculate because i dont follow it much are our gas rates.. they may have dropped some.
Doing a long commute on an interstate, I see Priuses doing 80+ mph when conditions are right. Out here on the prairie, they also can’t keep up when the wind is against them.
The Pious isn’t a horrible car. No driveabilty problems, aerodynamic shape; certainly stable enough for most situations. Wouldn’t want one for long interstate cruises or metro freeway driving though.
When it no longer carries a "premium" to be green, conservatives will buy energy efficient products. We don't do things 'for the sake of planet Gaia' when we know the science behind it is crap.
I put LED lights in my office. They are so hot I can’t touch them. I am guessing they are 12 volt and have to be transformed from 120 volt to 12. They must measure the energy consumption AFTER the transformer!
I’m with you - make it good and make it less expensive. I won’t drive $2 gas out to use a 25 cent coupon and won’t spend $300 extra on “efficient” devices to save $150 over the next few years.
Many times, the “efficient” products are pieces of crap that cause more problems than they solve. A good example is CFL lighting. I bought some to put in places where changing bulbs is difficult. They cost 6x what filament bulbs would cost (and aren’t sold anymore). They lasted 6 months to a year...
Dishwashers with modern detergents sold in retail stores aren’t even worth buying or using.
On the other hand, refrigerators are really MUCH more efficient than they once were, and this pays off. The new washers and driers are much better than their predecessors. They are also 4x more expensive.
The very essence of conservatism is "Conservation", a minimalist, least intrusive philosophy resulting in the greatest amount of personal freedom and liberty for a society.
So in truth, the left view that seems to lead into the conclusion that conservatives don't want a clean, efficient energy source is farcical and perverse.
The truth is we want a reliable, functional, serviceable clean energy source that meets the needs that originally motivated the purchase of said product. A "fad" simply isn't enough to compel the thinking consumer to engage themselves in a societal movement, there must be viable, tangible benefits resulting from the use of these products.
To date, that has not been overwhelmingly evident. In fact, it's been the opposite. One primary example are the "efficient flow toilets"...a product designed to conserve water. However almost a generation of feedback has shown that in truth, they must be flushed twice for the same performance, therefore actually increasing consumption and associated costs, not reducing them.
Anyone have the newer "efficient" dishwashers and clothes washers? Anyone who has one, do you miss your old one? That's what I hear mostly. Sure, they sound like a whisper of rain when they clean dishes or they sing to you and play Waltzes when your clothes are done, but results? Highly rated, energy efficient, yet it doesn't really perform as well as the old unit. You know what? I want the performance and I am going to pay for performance. If my household uses more energy as a result? Well, only NAZIS are going to complain about it. I'll put their name on a list for later reference.
There's a world of products hailed as "efficient" that in the end, produce similar results. After so many years and so many failures, such marketing has the very same appeal as the typical carpet bagger-fly by night sales gimmick.
"Honey did you remember to plug in the Volt?"
And yes, there are some decent products out there. They are doing quite well in sales and there are more and more people compelled to pay the premium price to get a hold of said products.
However for the most part, for every truly remarkable "efficient" product out there, there is an ocean of fraud and false claims.
This movement has been going on nearly a generation now and so far, we have the Toyota Prius that stands out as a winner, but I am hard pressed to name anything else that stands out as a marketing success on it's own merit and does not rely on slew of pathetic endorsements by government and Hollywood "royalty".
So keep trying, if we run into a truly great product that yields the benefits promised, the free market will reward the producer. Until then, the left can shove their piety right up their keister.
For anyone wanting 100w output, 'Rough Service Bulbs' are what to look for.
Part of my calculation of 'best value for money' is the extent to which a given purchase pisses on econazi corn flakes .. ymmv
EXACTLY!!!
:)
Worth repeating. We are letting the enviro-bullies decide where we should shut them down.
Only weak minded idiots are taken in by ham handed guilt tripping.
At work I’m responsible for utility bills of about $50k per month. When a vendor sends me proposals for quality products with an immediate cost savings with low pay back time I’m interested. Unfortunately most of the time their proposals also have a column telling me how many tons of green house gas emissions I’ll save over time. I have to resist the urge to drag it right to the ironically named recycle bin on my desktop.
They should not be turned on and off at all. My older outdoor CFL's lasted 5-6 years staying on 24x7. Newer ones last less than that probably due to bad power at the new house (brown outs). Next switch will be to LED which can be turned off and on as frequently as desired.
Come to California if you want to see Pious drivers at full speed. If you're doing "only" the speed limit of 65 in the fast lane, it's only a matter of time before you find a jerk has caught up to you, tailgating and flashing his high beams. And during commute hours, about 1 in 16 of the times that jerk behind you wishing you were dead is driving a Pious.
I buy lots of energy efficient products, I just don’t buy their crap science.
I would flush this article but it would take two or three flushes to get rid of it.
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