"Why," you ask, "do you want to build a house when the small ranch you live in is adequate for your needs and surely not an energy-guzzler?"

I'm glad you asked. Here are a few reasons:

- Because a small house surely can also be an energy-guzzler. We're paying about $2,000 annually for propane, when we could be paying $600 or less than that a year for fuel. Last year we used 766 gallons of propane to heat the house (we seldom use AC), instead of under 200 gallons, or about 566 more gallons than we might have used.

- What 566 gallons of propane (or other fossil fuel) equates to in terms of pounds of carbon dioxide given off to the atmosphere and contributing to global warming is xxx. The approximate equivalent in terms of carbon released is 1/3, or xxx pounds of carbon.

- If you multiply even xxx pounds of carbon by the number of houses in our township (roughly 5,000 xxx), you get a figure of xxx pounds of carbon, or xxx pounds of carbon dioxide. Compare this to the figure if everyone had a truly energy efficient house:

     South Hanover township current ballpark usage:

     South Hanover township projected energy efficient usage:
 

- In the last 5 years, hundreds of large houses and townhouses were built in this township. Granted, some steps were taken to improve energy efficiency of what would have been done in a new house years ago, but nevertheless much more could have been done. New homeowners could be paying $50-80 a month for heating instead of what their average bills are now. The carbon footprint from these hundreds of houses could have been much less than it is. What's a definition of "tragedy"? - something that was absolutely needed and wasn't done.

     In 2007, with what we know about climate change already, why didn't we pull together and do the best we could to minimize our local carbon footprints, instead of doing the best we could according to the minimum standards of a state building code??

- How do I know these figures for our household fuel use? I called the fuel company and asked them how many gallons we used last year.

- I'm part of a local EcoTeam of homeowners who are working together through an easy-to-follow workbook on reducing our carbon footprints. Check this out:

     Low Carbon Diet - A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds, by David Gershon ...."save money ...save energy ...save the planet - Be part of the global warming solution! - available from the Empowerment Institute, www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd

- In addition to hurting our pocketbooks, this release of carbon/carbon dioxide is a moral issue. As ice melts and the level of seawater rises, those who contributed the least to global warming are and willing be suffering the most. Climate change in the form of prolonged drought in southern Sudan caused the migration of many peoples northward for survival, where more troubles awaited them.
 

     It is already estimated that Climate Change is harming (to the point of displacement) several hundred thousand people a year. We already see effects of climate change, such as warmer winters, less rain, migration of tropical disease north (Nile Virus), melting of the glaciers, etc.
 

     In Pennsylvania, within our lifetimes, we expect to see the end of trout fishing (because trout are cold-water fish) and the end of maple trees and local maple syrup production, because maple trees need colder climates. The number one hazard for us from climate change right now is flooding.

     91% of greenhouse gases come from fossil fuels. The US produces 350,000,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually, more than 106 developing countries combined. Pennsylvania is #3 among states in production of greenhouse gases.

     The top 6 greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane (from natural gas consumption, livestock, rice), nitrous oxide (from fertilizer), HCFCs (refrigerants), perfluorocarbons (PFCs, from aluminum production - hence the benefit of recycling aluminum cans), and sulfur hexafluorides (electricity transport and distribution systems).

     "Sicko," Michael Moore's must-see movie on the health care system in this country, has a short clip of a European person saying that Americans need to learn to think in terms of "us," instead of "me."

     When will we begin to pull together, because we are all temporary inhabitants of our only planetary home? When will we begin to learn from the Iroquois of hundreds of years ago, who made decisions in light of the effects those decisions would have on the seventh generation after them?

     This section on "Dream House" will be an ever-growing chapter, presenting ideas for truly energy efficient, least toxic, less moldy, and sustainable homes. How does your home stack up? And what steps can you take to reduce the effects of past mistakes?

     Welcome to this challenge that we all face - for only a relative handful of Americans live in a "Dream House"... when, had we but headed the Iroquois' warning, we all could have been living in dream houses.

     We could have been breathing good air, enjoying good water quality, having minimal energy bills, and saving Mother Earth as well. Instead, we have to work on correcting decisions that, in hindsight, were short-sighted and ill-informed, that treated the earth and its precious resources as if they would go on forever, with no adverse consequences to our health. Now, we have ever-rising rates of cancer, asthma, autism, etc., and our Mother Earth, too, is suffering and is no longer the sustainable and friendly planet to human she was just a couple of decades ago.

     It's time, it's past time, for action. Let us do what we can, starting with our homes. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," - Lao Tzu.

     We need a people's movement, because most of the politicians just don't get it yet...but they will, as snowballing climate change consequences become more and more evident.

     One of my clients, a scientist from a Maryland University, stated before the 2004 election: "Forget the politicians. We need a scientist in the White House."

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