The Yopp Moment
July 25, 2006
Posted by: Barb Haig 07:18 AM

When I took my kids to see Seussical, the musical based on the children’s books of Dr. Seuss, who knew that I would get more out of it than a stale cookie at intermission.

The story centers around little people happily living on a speck of dust, when they realize that they may be threatened because there is something beyond their horizon.  They shout and shout to get the attention of the bigger world, but no one hears them until one boy adds a new word, Yopp!, to the commotion.  Somehow that helps them break through so people in the bigger world get the message, and their little speck of dust is saved.

So many of us who are involved in energy efficiency feel like we’ve been on that speck of dust for way too long.  From Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson to Lawrence Berkeley’s Art Rosenfeld, voices have been clamoring for people to consider the impact of their energy use on the environment, the economy and people’s lives..

The voices now are stronger.  Groups such as the Apollo Alliance add labor’s tone to the discourse, and the Energy Futures Coalition brings a conservative timbre to the conversation.  And then there’s the national Energy Efficiency Action Plan, a DOE/EPA effort to “bring the appropriate stakeholders together -- including utilities, state policy makers, consumers, consumer advocates, energy services companies, and others - to be part of a collaborative effort to take energy efficiency to a new level.”

All of these efforts hopefully will result in a loosening of what R. Neal Elliott recently called “America’s Energy Straightjacket.”  His report published by the American Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy outlines the major problems related to energy markets, reviews the external factors that threaten their stability, and talks about how energy efficiency is “the only policy solution” that could provide near-term relief.

“Energy efficiency can quickly and cost-effectively moderate energy demand growth, stretching available energy resources while providing price relief to consumers and reducing the risk that our energy straitjacket will derail the economic recovery,” the report says.  Elliott’s policy solutions include a national campaign led by the President, expanded funding for federal energy efficiency programs, and energy efficiency standards.  

“We are here! We are here!” the little Seuss people shouted in the play, though no one heard them.  It will be interesting to see what words it will take or what event will be necessary to get the rest of the world to pay attention to the benefits of energy efficiency:  Climate Change!  Economic Progress!  Global Competitiveness!

Yopp!