While in East Hampton, N.Y., to discuss America?s energy choices and issues related to the current gas-drilling blitz at a screening of the anti-fracking manifesto ?Gasland, Part II,? I couldn?t help noticing something that illustrates the mismatch between attitudes and actions on energy in this country:
In a stroll down Main Street on a 90-degree day, door after door was wide open, meaning that air conditioners were, in essence, straining to cool the planet. (Physics says this doesn?t work.)?
In 2008, New York City enacted a law prohibiting this practice (with some exceptions). While the city has had to deal with persistent lawbreakers, at least it has set a standard that matches the rhetoric of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the City Council.
In 2006, facing a summer power crunch, the Long Island Power Authority found that 65 percent of the stores it surveyed in East Hampton left their doors open and their air conditioning on.
I haven?t had time to check for an update, or to see whether the town has any statutes cracking down on this waste.
But on my walk along the retail strip, what could be described as an ?open door energy policy? appeared to prevail. (I was happy to see plenty of exceptions, including London Jewelers, Bookhampton and Starbucks.)
I?ll update this post if someone can point me to relevant information on new local laws or the like.
In the meantime, I?ll note this: After the ?Summer Docs? screening tonight, I?m sure there?ll be plenty of disagreement between me and?Josh Fox. (The panel also includes the actor?Alec Baldwin and the journalist Karl Grossman.)
But I presume we can all agree that East Hampton, and America, can do much, much better than this when it comes to the first step in an energy policy that works for the long haul ? cutting energy waste.
Addendum: A Web site supported by the gas industry has posted a long, annotated response to the film.
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