Community Energy Opportunity Finder : Resources

Human-Caused Emissions Are Changing the Earth's Climate
Highway Gridlock

Almost all climate scientists now agree that human-caused emissions are probably changing the Earth's climate, and that the potential consequences are grave: more severe weather, desertification, inundation of coastal areas. The main culprit is carbon dioxide, which is an unavoidable byproduct of burning fossil fuels. Simply put, we're not going to make any progress in preventing global warming without a significant reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide.

Household Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Savings Measures
Even when no one's home, your household quietly emits greenhouse gases. A refrigerator is keeping your food cold, a furnace and/or air conditioner is keeping things comfortable, and even the little black boxes powering telephone answering machines, DVD players, shavers, and Dustbusters™ are constantly soaking up a little juice. Surprisingly, heating and cooling aren't responsible for the largest household climate impacts. Appliances, lighting, and water heating account for the biggest part of your utility bills, hence emit the most carbon dioxide (See: Carbon Dioxide Emissions in an Average Single-Family Home). Remember that you're not merely paying an electric bill — you're also plugging into the power plant, and the more power (and money) you can save at home the more carbon dioxide you avoid emitting to the atmosphere. For more information, see: Household Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Savings Measures.

Reduce Your Carbon Impact at Home
Want to do something to help stop global warming? Here are some simple things you can do (www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction) and how much carbon dioxide you'll save doing them. Examples:

Check your tires. Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%.
Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Adjust your thermostat. Moving your thermostat just 2° in winter and up 2° in summer.
You could save about 2.000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.

Most emissions from homes are from the fossil fuels burned to generate electricity and heat. By using energy more efficiently at home, you can reduce your emissions and lower your energy bills by more than 30%. In addition, since agriculture is responsible for about a fifth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, you can reduce your emissions simply by watching what you eat. For more information, see An Inconvenient Truth (www.climatecrisis.net).

Conserve Natural Resources, Reduce Environmental Impact, and Offset Carbon Dioxide
The One Ton CO₂ Project (www.onetonco2.com) helps you learn how to conserve the natural resources you use, reduce your environmental impact, and offset your remaining carbon dioxide footprint. Find out how you can reduce you carbon dioxide emissions by one ton. Examples:

Switch two standard light bulbs to more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
CO₂ savings = 1,000 pounds
Switch from hot water to warm or cold water for every load of laundry.
CO₂ savings = 600 pounds

www.rmi.org/HEB