Environment

In, 2017, we find ourselves revisiting some battles we imagined were long behind us.
Let me be clear. This need not be, and should not be, a partisan issue.
The main influence that got me involved at the first Earth Day in 1970 was my Republican father, a Conservative who liked to conserve.

He was the son of Irish immigrants. He had lived through the Great Depression. We turned off the lights. Turned off the water. Saved string and tin foil. That was the way I was raised.
He died within a few days of the first Earth Day, and I became actively involved in conservation, more to honor him, than anything else.

When I would complain about the smog as a young man in the 50s and the 60s, he’d say: “I know what you’re AGAINST, but what are you FOR? What are YOU doing to make the world a better place”.
So, after the Earth Day celebration was over at Pershing Square. After all the speeches had been made about what we MIGHT do, I made a decision to make a list of things I COULD do,,,then did them. That same week.

I started riding my bike, taking public transportation, recycling, composting, eating lower on the food chain. All on the very modest budget of a broke and struggling actor.
And, I quickly realized it was affecting other green matters…money. I suddenly had more of it!
I even bought my first electric car that same year…1970.

It was a Taylor-Dunne that I bought for $950, and I quickly realized that it was saving me money, too. It was cheaper to fuel than gasoline, never needed a tune-up, oil change, fan belt, radiator flush, or all the other things I used to pay for with my previous cars.

It didn’t go fast or far, but it suited my needs back then, and the savings only increased.
My conservative father thought, as I do to this day, that one of the most patriotic things that we can do is to conserve energy. Why do I say it is patriotic? Last year we spent $388 billion on foreign oil.

And, when you consider that fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers had Saudi passports, it makes you think about where the funding comes from to carry out terrorist acts. And, besides matters of national security, we need to avoid wasting energy for other life and death matters. 11 people died on the Deepwater horizon rig in 2011. 19 died at Massey Coal that same year in a mining accident.

If folks are dying, so we can have cheap energy, the very least that we can do is really value it, and stop wasting it in inefficient houses and cars. There are many cars with plugs available in 2017. There are many cheap and easy ways to save energy at your home and office.

We intend to show you how you can get started on a cost-effective path to greater efficiency.

Thanks for joining us.