ENERGY SECRETARY dOUBLESPEAK...WE ARE TEENS THAT NEED TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON?

[festus]

By Ian Talley
This post was updated Monday evening.
Steven Chu: Americans Are Like ‘Teenage Kids’ When It Comes to Energy - Environmental Capital - WSJ
When it comes to greenhouse-gas emissions, Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons.

Energy Secretary Chu: A teaching moment (AP)
Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn’t think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

“The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act,” Dr. Chu said. “The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.” (In that case, the Energy Department has a few renegade teens of its own.)
The administration aims to teach them—literally. The Environmental Protection Agency is focusing on real children. Partnering with the Parent Teacher Organization, the agency earlier this month launched a cross-country tour of 6,000 schools to teach students about climate change and energy efficiency.

“We’re showing people across the country how energy efficiency can be part of what they do every day,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “Confronting climate change, saving money on our utility bills, and reducing our use of heavily-polluting energy can be as easy as making a few small changes.”

Still, Secretary Chu said he didn’t think that the public would throw the same political temper tantrum over climate legislation has has happened with the healthcare debate.

Asked if he expected a town-hall style pushback, Dr. Chu said he was optimistic the public would buy the administration’s arguments that energy efficiency and caps on greenhouse-gas emissions will spark an economic rebound.

“I don’t think so…maybe I’m optimistic, but there’s very little debate” that a new green energy economy will bring economic prosperity, Mr. Chu told reporters.

Don’t look now, but there’s actually quite a lot of debate as to the economic merits of the new green-energy economy. Whether that will spell a healthcare-style revolt against the energy and climate bill stewing in the Senate is another question.

An update: Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow added: “Secretary Chu was not comparing the public to teenagers. He was saying that we need to educate teenagers about ways to save energy. He also recognized the need to educate the broader public about how important clean energy industries are to our competitive position in the global economy. He believes public officials do have an obligation to make their case to the American people on major legislation, and that’s what he’s doing.”



fOR THE RECORD ...All my lights are cfl's...all my exterior lighting is led/solar and my thermostat is of the programmable variety... I have cut my energy usage in half as have most of my neighbors...please Dr. Chu how am I an unruly teen needing to be taught a lesson?

[HK4U]

As far as I am concerned he can go to ______.

[Glockster20]

Another "Manchurian Candidate" appointee!!

[Wolfling68]

The problem I have is every "Green" product I have seen pushed by the government has been an environmental nightmare. CFLs?? Are you really going to bring them to a hazmat disposal facility to get rid of them, or just throw them in the dumpster (mercury, they are illegal in Europe, I believe under ROHAS)? Can anyone think of a worse environmental disaster than ethanol? (for those of you who do not know, it requires more oil to produce and move the ethanol than the ethanol replaces, not to mention fertilizer run off which is destroying the Gulf of Mexico's fishing and shrip industry), the water shut off to the farms in CA, etc, etc, etc.

I loved the Top Gear show where they compared a Prius to a BMW........

I love the environment, and I agree pollution and conservation are possibly the most important issues we face, but let's do it in a rational way!!!! Science, not junk, look at total pollution output, not just carbon, etc.

[mot mayhem]

I agree.A lot of this new "saving" environmental technology is worse in the end. I love my environment, and try to do my part as much as possible. But please don't tell me how to run my life. What about using all that jetfuel jst to plant 1 tree on earthday? Who's the bad teen now?