Energy policy for the future

An editorial from today's Commercial Appeal...

Energy policy for the future
Memphis could join a national movement by adopting an energy conservation plan for rental property.
By Staff Reports

There's little doubt that the country's future is tied up in how closely it embraces green technology and energy conservation.

It's one notion on which Americans are uniting. Both Barack Obama and John McCain embraced the notion during the presidential campaign. To remain anchored to a profligate past would spell economic and environmental suicide.

The Memphis City Council will have an opportunity to become a part of that change by adopting an ordinance that addresses the profound waste of energy in the city's inventory of rental property.

The council is said to be leaning toward approval of the ordinance, proposed by Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, which would require rental property owners to make their structures more energy efficient.

The program would require some monitoring and fines for noncompliance. It is already creating an uproar.

But the benefits could be significant, for the environment as well as our pocketbooks. A study last year by energy experts at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company showed how the United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at a modest cost.

In fact, such a program would more than pay for itself in lower energy bills for industries and residential customers. And it could lessen the need for space heaters, which have been the cause of many home fires over the years, some of which have resulted in tragedy.

Critics say mandating energy efficiency would drive out investment in rental property, which may be true for some investors. But as the country moves toward energy efficiency, opportunities to invest in uninsulated, energy-leaking houses and apartments are going to shrink.

Energy inefficient housing burns too much electricity for cooling in the summer and too much gas for heating in the winter, and it puts too many low-income Memphians behind on their utility bills year-round.

Mandating efficiency can play a big part in improving that situation as part of an overall strategy with an educational component, as well. Homeowners and renters must be provided the assistance and the information they need to make smart choices about energy use.

That's already under way in the form of the $1 million Energy Smart Initiative, funded by MLGW, which started helping poor residents reduce energy consumption last spring by providing material and hands-on training to customers who meet federal poverty guidelines.

Mandating efficiency and holding property owners accountable is only one step toward putting Memphis in the forefront of this important national mission, but the City Council should not hesitate to take it.