How does energy efficiency contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change?
Almost fifty percent of electricity in the United States comes from coal. As electricity use drops – for instance, through achieving standards set by a national EERS – so does the amount of coal being burned at power plants. Carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced as existing power plants are able to do more for their customers, without increasing production. The federal EERS proposed by Reps. Waxman and Markey and Sen. Schumer would eliminate the need to build 390 new coal-fired power plants and reduce CO2 emissions by 262 million metric tons in 2020 – the equivalent of taking 48 million cars off the road for that year.
