I often hear politicians (mostly liberals) promoting renewable energy: hydro, wind, and solar, and I hear politicians (mostly conservatives) promoting increased oil production. But – how often do politicians or news commentators talk about energy efficiency? If Americans bought more energy-efficient products, we could reduce energy consumption in this country a lot – and right now. We don’t have to wait the 5 or 10 years it takes to build a new pipeline or for new energy-efficient products to be invented and get to market. These products are available now.

Automobiles. The average automobile sold in the U.S. last year got 25 miles per gallon and sold for $47,000. However, there are lots of cars on the market that get 40 to 50 miles per gallon and that cost much less than $47,000. A Toyota Prius hybrid gets 52 miles per gallon and sells for $35,000. This car has been on the market for many years and consistently gets very high marks for reliability. A Honda Accord hybrid gets 47 miles per gallon and also sells for around $35,000. The Prius is made in Japan. The Accord is made in Ohio. And lots of companies make electric vehicles.

Companies that buy huge numbers of cars and trucks are ordering electric vehicles. They aren’t doing this to please environmentalists. They are doing it to save money. Amazon has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans. They did this because they did the math and concluded that they would save money by buying electric vans over gasoline powered vans.

I don’t understand why the government doesn’t do more to encourage Americans to buy more energy-efficient cars. I would like to see President Biden go on TV and stand next to 2 new cars that look about the same. I would like him to say: “If you are in the market for a new car, why buy this car that gets 25 miles a gallon and complain about how much you are spending every month on gasoline when you can buy this car over here that gets 45 miles a gallon and costs the same?” Unfortunately, I don’t expect that to happen.

However, even without encouragement from the federal government to buy more electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids, it is probably going to happen anyway. In 2021, 5% of new car sales in the U.S. were hybrids and 3% were electric vehicles. However, a recent study by J.P. Morgan predicts that 38% of all new car sales in the U.S. will be EVs or hybrids by 2025. Why the big change? It’s the price of gasoline. In 2016, the average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. was a little over $2.00 a gallon. Few people expect to see that price again.

Refrigerators. There are many other energy-efficient products that the government should be promoting and that are available now. I see that in my business. Sometimes a landlord will ask me when it is better to replace an old refrigerator or pay a repairman to fix it. I tell landlords that this decision shouldn’t be made principally on the cost of the repair but the age of the refrigerator. Refrigerators have become vastly more energy-efficient over the past few decades. A refrigerator made today will use 50% to 70% less electricity than a refrigerator of the same size made 20 years ago, and new refrigerators last longer than they used to.

Pilot Lights. I don’t understand why gas water heaters still have pilot lights. I had to replace 2 gas water heaters last year. I tried to buy new ones without pilot lights but couldn’t find them. I don’t know why gas water heaters still have pilot lights. The gas used by pilot lights is just wasted energy – completely wasted energy – and a gas water heater can use 25% of its gas just keeping the pilot light lit. There is no need for this waste. The technology to light gas appliances without pilot lights has been around for a long time. Gas clothes dryers don’t have pilot lights. They stopped making gas clothes dryers with pilot lights 50 years ago. Yet, lots of new water heaters, kitchen stoves, and wall furnaces still have pilot lights.

The White Roof Project. In places where it gets hot in summer, just painting a dark colored roof white can reduce that home’s air conditioning bill by as much as 40%. It is really astonishing at how much something as simple as this can reduce a home’s air conditioning bill. When I was a child, my bedroom was under the roof. It was a black tar roof. In summer, the temperature in my room was much hotter than the temperature outside, and we did not have air conditioning. White roofs also last much longer than black roofs because they don’t get as hot. Again, why isn’t the government promoting things like this?