Energy consumer: The musical

By at 9:22 am Wednesday, Feb 24

Everybody knows that Americans have a god-given right to waste energy as they see fit—from turning on every light in the house, to leaving the TV on for the cat. The call to conserve? That's just an evil plot. Sing along with this clip from a satirical musical produced by Allied Chemical in 1978.

Then think: This guy is caught up in a false dichotomy—he thinks he either has to ignore the problems associated with fossil fuels or nobly sacrifice away his standard of living. In reality, what Mock-turtleneck there wants isn't an unlimited quantity of energy (or greenhouse gas emissions). Neither will make him happier. Neither will make him wealthier. What he wants is the services of energy. That's what makes efficiency such an important concept, according to William Moomaw, professor of International Environmental Policy and Director of Tuft's Center for International Environment & Resource Policy. Getting people the results they want, for less energy and low emissions, does a lot more good than the usual song and dance.

Watch more of the musical, "Seein' the Light".

(Thanks to Sean Meredith of Track 16 Gallery for the video!)

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Maggie Koerth-Baker

I do the Twitter, the Google+, and (to a much lesser extent) the Facebook.

Books
• Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us, my book about the future of energy in the United States, will be published April 10th.

Upcoming Appearances
• February 20 at British Columbia Sustainable Energy Association — Vancouver. 7:00 pm
• February 29 at University of Minnesota: Frontiers in the Environment seminar
• March 1 at Huge Theater, Minneapolis: The Theater of Public Policy
• March 12 at University of Illinois — Urbana-Champaign
• March 27 at Penn State Institutes on Energy and the Environment
• March 29-31 at York College of Pennsylvania: Writer in residence
• April 2 at MIT: The New GeekSpeak: Science Journalists' New Toolbox, with Eli Kintisch and John Bohannon — Maseeh Hall, 4:00 pm
• April 9-13 at University of Colorado, Boulder: 64th Annual Conference on World Affairs
• April 10 at Colorado State University, Fort Collins — 4:00 pm
• June 22-25 in Aspen, Colorado: Aspen Environment Forum

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