Extensions of Remarks June 10, 1980 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS
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13906 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-Extensions of Remarks June 10, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS ENERGY DEMAND AND THE and is down 30% in some regions; industrial Altho.\lgh conservation ls finally catching GNP-FACTORING IN ENERGY energy use is almost the same as it was in on, a number of government officials and 1972, despite a 20% increase in real industri business leaders believe that, even though it CONSERVATION AS NEW al output; certain new refrigerators on the is important, it cannot be viewed as a pre ENERGY SUPPLY market today use 50% to 60% less energy dictable or reliable .-.supply" of energy. than comparable models sold a year ago. Rather, supply is realistically a matter of HON. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. "These figures show unambiguously that oil, coal, gas and uranium. And it is a matter of massive investment in synthetic fuels, OF CALIFORNIA conservation has delivered the equivalent of fo'ur to five million barrels of oil a day since such as oil squeezed from coal shale and of IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1972-greater than any other source of advanced nuclear technology. Tuesday, June 10, 1980 energy supply," Schipper said. To these groups, conservation is the hand· The debate over the extent to which con maiden. • Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. servation can substitute for increased When the energy crisis hit in 1973 after Speaker, while it is now rare to hear energy supplies raises questions about social the Arab oil embargo, the nation turned to claims that energy demand increases values, environmental quality and future its established experts for answers, accord· lockstep with GNP, and while it is now life style. Billions of dollars are at stake, as ing to Daniel Yergin, a Harvard Business common to hear discussions about the well as, some would argue, the security of a School professor who helped write "Energy potential of energy_conservation, I be· nation that has come to import half its Future," a best seller that strongly touted lieve the extent of our energy supply energy. Some of the nation's largest institu conservation and efficiency. potential from conservation is often tionS-banks and utilities-have been drawn "Not surprisingly," Yergin said, "they overlooked. into the fray. held the view that the past is a good guide The Los Angeles Times recently pub· Recent studies at Princeton, Harvard, the to the future. After all, this was their whole University of California, Berkeley, and Car career and it was human nature to be lished an excellent overview on this negie Mellon Institute have examined every supply oriented." topic, which I would like to bring to conceivable "end use" of energy in Amer This was the same generation, Yergin said the attention of inY colleagues. If we ica-at all the machines and processes tHat that harnessed nuclear power for peaceful remember that tne term ·"energy con· are powered by electricity and by oil, gas purposes, the one that developed synthetic servation'' includes energy efficiency, and coal. The researchers wanted to calcu rubber and put men on the moon. Now it and not simply the reduction in late how much energy is used to run the ·wants synfuels. energy use, we can better realize the nation compared to how much is actually "It's not that people are against conserva· potential of energy conservation. needed. tion," · Yergin s~id. "It's just that they The traumas of the U.S. automobile Their prediction: by the year 2QOO the haven't taken it seriously.'' industry in adjusting to the need for nation can double its population and As an industry executive put it: "This expand its economy without using more country didn't conserve its way to greatness, energy-efficient automobiles serves to energy that it uses today. It may even use it produced its way there." Said another: il_lustrate both the magnitude and po less. "The trouble with conservation is it's too tential for energy conservation. I com The key factors will be conservation and damn feminine." mend the following article to my col- efficiency. This is the debate: one group is supply ori leagues: · California is viewed as the nation's lead ented and the other is demand oriented, and (From the Los Angeles Times, June 9, i980l ing laboratory for innovative ideas about they offer fundamentally different solu CONSERVING: NEW PRODUCT IN U.S. FuTURE? energy supply and use, and its experience tions to the energy puzzle. has convinced state planners that conserva <By San4r& Blakeslee> If the scorecard were tallied to<Jay, the tion does not mean life-disrupting sacri supply side would appear to be ahead. The When figures recently released by the De· fices-just thoughtful adjustments. federal government spends $4 to increase partment of Energy showed that energs Conservation, California energy planners supply for every $1 it spends to reduce consumption actually dropped in 1979 while say, is a dynamic process that requires demand. the gross national product increased, some "fixes" tn the home and in industry: The belief that there is great flexibility in energy experts in the United States were A family in El Monte insulates its ceilings how much energy is required and how much not surprised. and walls and cuts heating bills in half; a is used for any one purpose was developed For some time now a new generation of homeowner in Hollywood installs double· by a group of influential physicists, most of experts and con:sultants on energy has in· glazed windows and makes the air-condition them in their 30s, who were drawn into the sisted . that curbing consumption does not energy debate after the 1973 energy crisis, have to lead to a decline in growth. To the ing of his house more efficient; a tenant in contrary, they say, conservation can be Santa Monjca puts a Styrofoam pad up the according to Yergin; viewed as a means of "supply"-no less pro chimney in his apartment and cures a -"Physicists,'' Yergin said, "have provided ductive than a new power plant or oil rig. common energy "leak." careful scientific reasoning and explanation The debate between these experts, and On a larger scale, a builder in Riverside for conservation using the second law of those who insist that increasing the supply puts energy-efficient stoves, refrigerators tnermodynamics,'' which states that it is im of oil, gas and coal .is still the best hope for and heat pumps in a new housing develop. possible to convert a given quantity of heat solving the nation's energy crisis, is not ment; a hospital in Beverly Hills installs completely into work. There are always likely to end in thP, near future. But the solar panels on the roof and cuts gas bills by losses in the conversion. Energy Department's figures, coupled with 80%. Great increases in the efficiency of con· other findings on reduced energy demand On the freeways, commuters drive more version are possible, Yergin said, but no one suggest that the nat' on's _energy appetite fuel-efficient automobiles or they form car paid any attention to the conversions when could be curbed witnout dislocating the pools or ride the bus. energy was cheap. economy. To promote "fixes" at the household The N~tional Academy of Science began When energy !onsqmptiop dropped by·a level, the California Public Utilities Com to pay attention five years ago when it initi· fraction of 1% last year while the GNP grew mission recently ordered utilities to offer ated a major study of the nation's energy by 2.3% <after adjusting for . inflation>. it low-interest or no-interest loans to custom problems. The academy's final report, was the first time in mor~ than 25 years ers·for insulating their houses and installing ~ued in January, was remarkable, accord· that energy used failed to grow in a non·re· solar hot water heaters. Home audits·wm be ing to. Jack Hollander, an associate director cession year. And there are compelling rea· offered next year to show consumers where of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, be sons why, according to Lee Schipper, a they could be saving energy. cause it proved to the nation's scientific es physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley Labora The PUC is promoting economic incen tablishment that energy use and the gross tory who is collecting data on conservation. tives to encourage builders to put. up national product do not have to increase in Among Schipper's .findings: Between 1972 energy-efficient houses, and the Energy lock-step fashion. and 1980, fuel use for space heating per Commission's building efficiency standards The belief that any decrease in energy house has declllied at least 15% nationwide are being copied by the federal government. productivit~ would result in a lower GNP- e This · .. bullet" symbol , identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member on the floor. June 10, 1980 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-Extensions of Remarks 13907 and thus a lower standard of living-was of $9.6 million a day in the nation's trade teeing the workmanship on solar devices common a few years ago. deficit. and insulation. The academy o"f science report showed, If all commercial establishments <banks, Another barrier to conservation is rate however, that in 2010 the United States apartment houses, stores. supermarkets> re pricing. Despite higher bills, customers stiil could thri\•e on 20% to 40% less energy than cycled lost heat, the saving would be 750,000 are not payirig what it costs a utility to go it uses today, which is about 78 quads. <A barrels a day. More efffcient lighting would out and secure new supplies.