Are Environmentalists Repudiating Energy Conservation?

Washington, D.C., October 5, 1998 – A new ad campaign by the National Environmental Trust (NET) suggests there is no need for energy conservation to combat global warming.

NET’s ads respond to advertisements aired by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and other groups that point out that adopting the international global warming treaty negotiated by the Clinton Administration would force consumers to use less energy. For years, environmental groups, including NET, have maintained that federal policy should restrict energy use. The new NET ads, however, claim that conservation measures, such as increasing federal fuel economy standards for automobiles which force Americans into smaller cars, are unnecessary. "NET’s own web site says that Americans should use less energy to combat global warming, but their new ads suggest that reducing energy use is unnecessary. Will the real NET please stand up?" commented Jonathan Adler, Senior Director of Environmental Policy at CEI.

CEI’s national ad campaign against the global warming treaty highlights the value of energy use in improving the American quality of life. One CEI ad, "Let There Be Light," demonstrates that the energy conservation measures called for by NET and other environmental groups will hurt consumers and families. Such measures are not only based on highly dubious science, but also on the notion that high energy use is fundamentally immoral.

NET’s ads appear to disavow the need for increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which force Americans into smaller, lighter, and less safe cars, yet the Sierra Club claims increasing CAFE is the single most important step to combat global warming. "We’re glad NET has seen the error of its ways, and we call on them to lead their environmental compatriots to the light," commented Adler. "We are hopeful that NET will do their part to help eliminate the deadly CAFE standards." A 1989 Harvard-Brookings study found that existing CAFE standards result in 2,000 to 4,000 highway fatalities per year due to vehicle downsizing. "Higher CAFE standards would only increase this deadly blood-for-oil trade off," Adler said.

CEI, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group founded in 1984, is dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information, contact Emily McGee, director of public relations, at 202-331-1010.