Global Warming and Climate Change 101
Is it getting hot in here?
In general, our CO2 emissions split into three roughly equal pieces of the pie: home, transportation and commerce. At home, we produce CO2 directly when we turn on the furnace to keep warm and indirectly when we use electricity to power lights and air conditioning. (Despite the growing popularity of wind power and other "renewable" electricity sources, most of the electric grid is still powered by burning coal or natural gas.)
When traveling, we produce CO2 by burning fuel in our cars, trucks, buses and airplanes. And almost anything we buy has some CO2 emissions associated with it — from things produced on electric assembly lines to the food we eat, which is harvested by machines that run on diesel fuel.
If CO2 comes from burning fuel, doesn't reducing my emissions save me money?
Yes! Since CO2 emissions come from burning fuel, the best thing you can do to reduce your emissions is to improve your energy efficiency. Small changes add up, and you'll find many good tips throughout this site, but here are three good starters for home, travel and commerce:
- Home: Change that always-on porch light to a compact fluorescent, or CFL). CFLs last longer, reduce emissions by about 65 percent as compared to a regular bulb and can save you about $30 over the life of the bulb.
- Travel: Slow down. Air resistance (and the potential severity of an accident) goes way up with speed. If you drive a lot on the highway, try slowing down by 5 mph for a tank, and watch your fuel economy go up.
- Commerce: Avoid buying items with excessive packaging. Packaging is an environmental triple-threat. It often comes from cutting down trees, requires fuel to transport, then decays in landfills to produce methane, a global warming gas that's 20 times more potent than CO2.
