Who's Got the Energy?

Without a crisis, energy policy gets little political or media attention. The nation has had difficulty sustaining a consistent energy policy, even though improved efficiency would benefit the environment — and the environment is always a political hot button. Instead, energy policy seems to lurch back and forth with each new administration.That situation may be changing — at least at the local level. By confronting their own energy challenges through planning and experimentation, some communities are discovering that they can both help the environment and stimulate economic development. They are finding that gains in energy efficiency can mitigate the impact of electricity blackouts, and that conservation and the use of renewable sources may help avoid battles over proposed generation and transmission facilities.