I'm currently making my way through Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest, The Bully Pulpit, a sort of dual political biography of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Without getting explicit, she's making a lot of points about our current situation. Among other things, she claims, and I think I agree, that one of Teddy's greatest accomplishments was persuading the American people that the federal government had a role to play in controlling the excesses of capitalism and in bettering the lives of its citizens.
Actually, he didn't have to persuade the American people, but he had to overcome the resistance of corporate America to the idea. Back then, at least so far as I can see from Goodwin's book, the forces of sheer idiocy (think tea party) were safely confined in the insane asylums.
Well, here we are 100 years later, and we're at it again. Unfortunately, we have yet to see an American president this century who has made the argument for government as forcefully and consistently as either Roosevelt, or, surprisingly, Taft. (He wasn't his son's intellectual father)
Anyway, here's further proof, if proof we need, that government can get things done, even when it is hampered by corporate and yahoo resistance:
The average amount of electricity consumed in U.S. homes has fallen to levels last seen more than a decade ago, back when the smartest device in people's pockets was a Palm pilot and anyone talking about a tablet was probably an archaeologist or a preacher.
Because of more energy-efficient housing, appliances and gadgets, power usage is on track to decline in 2013 for the third year in a row, to 10,819 kilowatt-hours per household, according to the Energy Information Administration.
That's the lowest level since 2001, when households averaged 10,535 kwh. And the drop has occurred even though our lives are more electrified.
…
In the early 2000s, as energy prices rose, more states adopted or toughened building codes to force builders to better seal homes so heat or air-conditioned air doesn't seep out so fast. That means newer homes waste less energy.
Also, insulated windows and other building technologies have dropped in price, making retrofits of existing homes more affordable. In the wake of the financial crisis, billions of dollars in Recovery Act funding was directed toward home-efficiency programs.
Big appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners have gotten more efficient thanks to federal energy standards that get stricter ever few years as technology evolves.
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Those incandescent light bulbs are being replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs and LEDs that use 70 to 80 percent less power. According to the Energy Department, widespread use of LED bulbs could save output equivalent to that of 44 large power plants by 2027.
via The Associated Press (Emphases added)
Now, imagine what government could do if it were not frustrated at every turn by Republican ignoramuses that insist that we will have to tear their incandescent bulbs out of their cold dead hands.
By the way, for those keeping track (and I know you're out there Barbara) this post doubles as a good news post.
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