Conserving resources is about future, not politics
To the Editor: George Will’s recent column stated that the Department of Energy was imposing stricter water and energy efficiency on dishwashers for reasons of wanting to “boss us around” and to “create stigma” against those who do not take action to conserve resources. He suggests that water shortages were “presumed” and the attempt to regulate water use is over reach.
As a parent of grown children trying to afford homes, appliances and utility costs, I very much understand the burdens on my fellow New Hampshire residents of increasing the cost of appliances as well as on our small businesses that sell these appliances. Mr. Will’s column fails to understand that greenhouse emissions are resulting in worsening climate extremes and subsequently increasingly frequent periods of drought.
The need for more and more electricity due to our population growth is straining resources and driving up costs. Mr. Will’s column does not consider that the more simple and less devious motive for regulating water usage and increasing energy efficiency is simply to try to reserve resources so that they will be available to our grandchildren.
I would like to encourage all of us here in New Hampshire to not immediately just assume that all our federal regulations are done in the spirit of not caring about the effects of the consumer. These assumptions keep us from looking at the longer-term effects of caring for our planet and trying to keep our resources so our grandchildren can enjoy them.
