THUS Magazine

Yes we can see it's gone green, but please switch some of those bloody lights off, children

According to Slashdot.org, ‘the nuts and bolts of news for nerds’ – to which I confess I’m addicted, US companies waste at least $2.8 billion per year on leaving unattended PCs switched on. A US government report also claims that idling PCs are responsible for an extraordinary 20 million tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 4 million cars. Companies such as General Electric have already made savings amounting to millions of dollars simply by instructing employees to switch off their computers when not in use. Myths that powering up a PC negates the benefit of turning it off, that screen savers somehow save electricity (or screens) are similarly debunked in a report by 1E Energy Awareness Campaign, whose CEO, Sumir Karayi, claims that if all of the world’s 1 billion PCs were powered down for just one night, the energy saved would light the Empire States Building for 30 years. The 1E report is also available in a UK version. You can download it from their site.

I am suddenly telling you this not because I’ve gone all muesli, but because reports like this are genuine evidence that the US is actively joining the developed world community and pragmatically addressing energy savings. This is far from trivial, fellow planeteers. If the Obama effect only extended to reducing wasteful greenhouse gas emissions by, say, 10% in four years, (a lot more than Kyoto, so in a bizarre way, Bush was right) he would leave the US, and the world, in much better shape to have a fighting chance of survival to the 22nd Century. Yes you can (sorry) turn off your PC, take your phone charger out of its socket, stop leaving your TV on standby and switch a few lights off. Yes it will make a huge collective difference. The fact that this will save huge amounts of money and reduce dependence on dwindling fossil fuels from – ahem – unstable regions should not be lost on the citizens of the world’s most hated nation (which could easily be its most admired). The elephant in the room is air conditioning, however. If North Americans  – and North East Asians, for that matter – could temper their addiction to artificial climate control, in cars as well as buildings, we would see a step change in energy consumption and Co2 emissions. Switching off PCs is a welcome start, however. Go green, USA!

John J Kelly