Think those funny-looking light bulbs and energy-efficient appliances are helping to save the world? Even TIME?s in-house environmental alarmist Bryan Walsh realizes that those items can have unintended consequences:
When environmentally conscious consumers buy an energy-efficient dishwasher, for example, they may feel less guilty about running the machine more often and as a result may not end up saving much on their utility bills. Likewise, studies indicate that people who install more-energy-efficient lights lose 5% to 12% of the expected savings by leaving them on longer.
As for whether those energy-efficiency measures would do much for the environment under any circumstances, Roy Spencer offered an interesting perspective during a 2008 interview with Carolina Journal Radio.
