However, we know that we are part of a much larger network and community of people and organizations working to create positive change.  Some of those groups work largely out of the public eye – providing critical infrastructure for the flashier and more visible efforts.  An excellent example of one such group is the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) which has done a phenomenal job of coordinating and advancing the work of the environmental and efficiency advocacy communities in the world of standards setting for appliances.  It might sound kind of boring but it is of critical importance – which I will lay out a bit more below.

But before I get to that here is the important part – they are hiring.  If you have what it takes to be a “Strategic Program / Technical Analyst” you should give them a look.

And getting back to why this is important – take a look at your refrigerator.  It uses much less energy today (inspiring many fewer nasty power plant emissions into the air and painful wallet emissions into energy bills) than if there had not been a massive effort over decades to improve standards for that most vital of appliances. And ASAP has played a key role in creating the new standards that will make our society, homes and buildings even more efficient, saving money while reducing emissions.

This is the real story of energy efficiency – saving money, creating new technologies (and jobs) -  a stark contrast to the ugly and inaccurate (ok: wrong and evil) stories that are told by people of ill will.  And the fact that a small organization that has for worked quietly out of a main office in a quiet residential neighborhood of Boston has been at the center of this positive revolution is just another really cool part of the tale.

A rather silly column in the Boston Globe on this subject inspired a good editorial in response, and raft of letters to the editor, including one from the CEO of major light bulb manufacturer Phillips Lighting North America noting that the law criticized in the column would not ban incandescent light bulbs, limit consumer choice or force people to buy very expensive light bulbs:

. . .  With this law consumers now have more choice than ever before, including new energy-efficient incandescent light bulbs that meet the new requirements.

Already on retail shelves and selling for as little as $1.49, energy-efficient incandescents look and feel the same as the light bulbs consumers have been using for more than 100 years, but they use almost 30 percent less energy. They are no more fragile than their traditional incandescent sibling, and some can last as much as 3,000 hours, or three times longer than Edison’s bulb.

The savings from these new choices are a direct result of government, business, and industry working together to drive innovation and improve energy efficiency. At a time when families are struggling with high energy costs, these new minimum efficiency levels will lower our nation’s electricity bills by over $12 billion per year. That’s about $100 per year for every American family.

Clearly, there is a need for good information about light bulbs – and now some smart folks are looking to shed some light on the subject with the launch of the LUMEN Coalition website, a joint effort by industry and non-profit energy efficiency and consumer advocates. Take a look, it might brighten your day.

Photo credit: Beerzle, flickr

In 2007, Congress passed energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that will decrease air pollution, improve public health and decrease household energy bills. A no-brainer, right? Wrong. This week, the House will vote on bills to repeal those standards – and we need your help to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

The standards require new bulbs to use 25 to 30 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012, and 65 percent less energy by 2020. These standards will not ban the incandescent light bulb, but instead give consumers a wider range of bulbs to choose from, including new and improved incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are far more efficient than required by the 2012 standards. What’s more, several manufacturers, including GE, Philips Lighting and Osram Sylvania, already sell new energy-efficient incandescent bulbs that use halogen technology. These bulbs meet the 2012 standards and are already available for sale. Learn more about light bulb standards here.

By the numbers, these standards will:

• Save American households $100 to $200+ per year
• Reduce U.S. energy bills overall by more than $10 billion per year – energy savings equivalent to 30 large power plants
• Jump-start industry innovation and investment that is creating U.S. jobs
• Avoid 100 million tons of global warming pollution per year – equal to the emissions of more than 17 million cars

But we won’t see any of these benefits if the standards are repealed and we return to using traditional light bulb technology, which has changed very little since Thomas Edison invented the incandescent bulb some 125 years ago. This is a battle that we can’t afford to lose.

Here’s a bright idea. Send a message to your representatives opposing any bills that would weaken or reverse light bulb efficiency standards.