From the actions of emergency personnel on September 11 to the outpouring of generosity in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Americans show our best qualities when our backs are against the wall.

Now we face a new crisis—less immediate or lethal, for sure, than a terrorist attack or natural disaster—but with serious ramifications for the economy and for the health and safety of many Americans.

This winter Americans can expect to pay 35 percent more to heat their homes. The financial jolt comes on top of last winter’s already-high home heating prices and on the heels of rising prices for gasoline, diesel fuel and electricity.

While energy prices can be notoriously volatile, as global demand for energy soars—even as growth in the world’s supplies of oil and gas slows—more experts are predicting an end to the era of cheap energy.

Yet as typically happens in times of trial, Americans are responding creatively. Many of us are driving less. States across the country have pursued conservation measures to save money this winter.

Here in Georgia, we have helped convince state leaders to declare sales tax holidays on products that have earned Energy Star labels for their high efficiency standards. But there’s more we can do.

Energy-Saving Steps
Georgia PIRG researchers have compiled and distributed a long list of energy-saving policy ideas. Here are a few of the steps that we’re asking our governor and other government leaders to take right now:

• Use the “bully pulpit” to set concrete goals for energy savings and to call on all sectors of society —from individual consumers to government to businesses—to do their part.

• Get energy efficiency tools into the hands of people who need them. Everyone who wants to use energy more wisely this winter should have the chance to do so. That means bolstering funds for weatherization programs, educating the public about energy efficiency, and using new tax breaks and incentives to get low-cost efficiency technologies into homes quickly.

• Walk the talk. Government can’t call for conservation one minute and waste energy the next. Our government should lead by example by curbing its own energy use and using all the energy-saving policy tools in its arsenal.

Remember the energy crisis in California during the winter of 2000-2001? To avoid another season of rolling blackouts and skyrocketing prices, California embarked on a PIRG-backed emergency energy conservation blitz, slashing its consumption by six percent within a single year, saving the economy billions of dollars.

How significant is a six percent reduction in energy use? According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a two percent reduction in electricity and natural gas demand could trigger a 25 percent reduction in wholesale prices within a single year.

Time and again, Americans have responded to crises in ways that make the nation stronger. With a little help from our government, we can ease the hardships of this winter, safeguard our economy, and emerge stronger.