What types of policies on the part of government could promote energy efficiency?
There are already many states that have policies in place to promote energy efficiency. Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards, utility policies, appliance efficiency standards, and building codes to help enforce energy efficiency are a few ways in which states are already promoting efficiency. ENERGY STAR offers many programs and resources to allow buildings and homes to become more energy efficient. While some states are taking advantage of programs and policies to make their communities more efficient, other states are not doing as much. There are some policies at the federal level, but some of the state policies are stricter than national policies. With that being said, there should be a national Renewable Portfolio Standard. Since becoming an ESP major and learning about RPS, I always believed that we should have a RPS at the federal level. This would definitely promote energy efficiency and allow all states to do their part in regards to energy efficiency. Another policy that could help promote energy efficiency would be a federal cap and trade or emissions trading. This would have to be implemented in particularly with large companies or corporations. If companies did not have their allowance, they would have to cut back on their emissions or find a more efficient way to produce their product.
How would you develop a business that has the potential to move this idea forward?
Businesses that could benefit from a national Renewable Portfolio Standard and a federal cap and trade program would be actual energy conscious businesses. For this reason, I would develop a business to help make existing business more energy efficient. We could present alternative, more efficient products for companies to use. This business may even be able to help corporations invent new machines that give off little to no carbon dioxide.
“State and Local Climate and Energy Program.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. <http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/state/topics/energy-efficiency.html>.
Hi Bethany I am an ESP major too. I agree that there should be a national RPS and this would go a long way towards controlling emissions while making businesses aware of their footprint. It is also crucial to avoid negatively effecting business by increasing operation and energy costs. There has to be some sort of scale system where larger businesses have slightly different regulations than smaller business who can’t make as many drastic changes.