Posted on 06/07/2012 9:02:20 AM PDT by frogjerk
More than a summer break, poll finds Americans want a break on their energy bills
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As summer beckons, it seems Americans are thinking more about the stifling cost of energy than about making tracks to the beach.
Cutting energy bills and use is a bigger deal to them than taking a vacation or scoring the latest smartphone or tablet, according to an AP-NORC Center poll that asked people to choose priorities. Not even 1 in 5 ranked a summer trip or the latest gadget as a priority, while majorities said reducing electricity use and making homes energy-efficient are important. But in typical American fashion, by far the highest priority was having a reliable set of wheels.
--snip--
Linda Pence, 50, in Spring Valley, Calif., buys everything organic, recycles, grows her own vegetables and doesn't turn her air conditioner on unless the oldest of her five cats starts to pant in the Southern California heat. Her highest priorities are buying environmentally friendly products, reducing the electricity she uses, saving money on energy and making her home more efficient. She wishes she could afford the up-front cost of solar panels.
Without serious conservation, she says, "the kids coming up are not going to have the resources they need. They are not going to have a planet to live on."
But in the driveway, she's got a Dodge Durango and a Lincoln Continental, neither squeezing out 20 miles to a gallon in combined city-highway driving, as well as a more economical Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
And by driving down economic activity and by extension employment, this push to Go Green may prove to be the ultimate undoing of the Obama Presidency.
Irony, the Mark of Quality Literature.
She buys organic and turns on her A/C for her five cats. Oooh, doggie, do they have some loonies in CA.
What’s a vacation? Haven’t had the funds for so much as a weekend out in years. Most of my dollars go to skyrocketing property taxes.
Hmmm...Just got back from 2 weeks in Hawaii...Guess I wasn’t included in the poll...
Hey Yahoo, it's the economy stupid! Americans can't AFFORD vacations.
Wow. I'm dizzy from the spin.
I suppose "We're not able to pay $3.50/gal to take an exended vacation, so we're staying home." is saving energy. Sort of.
But it's not the motivation.
Is this a joke? Cutting energy use is a higher priority than summer vacation? Give me a break. How about the outrageous cost of gasoline and related price increases, combined with the crappy economy, means that people are too broke to take a vacation...
Liberalism looks more and more like a mental disease
I am trying like hell to save as much money to have a family vacation this year. Haven’t been able to pull it off for a long time (Bush years) but I owe it to my family and my kids before they are too big.
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