by Josephine Polifroni

Created on: May 26, 2010   Last Updated: May 27, 2010

Conservation is a powerful tool in the energy wars. Its most attractive feature is that it is something every one of us can do, right now, every day, to make a noticeable impact on usage. As more and more people conserve, the effect grows until the cumulative effect is quite overwhelming.

During the California energy crisis early in 2000 and 2001, conservation was vital in helping to manage costs and prevent rolling blackouts. A combination of deregulation and subsequent market manipulation, along with “unplanned” maintenance of California power plants wreaked havoc with California's ability to fill their energy needs.

While politicians and corporations such as Enron faced off, the one thing that saved Californians from the worst effects of this contrived energy shortage was conservation.

The campaign to encourage conservation reduced peak usage by 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts during the summer of 2001, a staggering amount that saved billions and prevented at least 150 hours of blackouts.

It is even more remarkable in light of the fact that it was a voluntary program, done largely without special appliances or light bulbs or new cars or additional mass transit. People simply changed their habits to cut back and reschedule some of their usage to off-peak hours and the deed was done.

In fact, because of the ease of this conservation effort and the realization their energy destiny was in their own hands, California was able to put policies in place for a cleaner energy outlook, developing solar and wind and energy efficient technology.

California attracts over half of the venture capital devoted to clean technology, an investment not only in sustainable energy but a sustainable economy.

There are many benefits for industry in practicing conservation as well. In addition to obvious savings from reduced consumption, equipment lasts longer which leads to reduced maintenance costs and less vulnerability to price spikes.

In addition, it enhances a company's public image to be environmentally responsible and a record of such responsibility reduces not only cost to the environment but legal fees from future litigation.

Conservation is necessary as a way to involve everyone in taking responsibility for their energy usage and recognizing that there are indeed options to runaway oil usage, foreign and domestic.

The fact is, regardless of how much certain sectors wish to uncover new sources of oil domestically and drill regardless of risk to human and environmental

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