All of Al Gore's We Campaign commercials I've seen are about attitudes. It is especially galling that there's one with Newt Gingrich declaring his support for climate solutions, dating from just before he launched his well-funded "Drill now!" campaign. I wonder if anybody's asked him how that fits with his "commitment" to reducing CO2 with increased drilling everywhere.
None of these commercials promotes immediately useful practice. The fact that Obama seems to have won the tire gauge battle has led me to reiterate the idea of practical energy commercials to the principals of Energize America and others. Why not an ad that not only promotes proper inflation of tires but also changing oil and air filters, getting a tune-up, keeping the wheels aligned, all those simple things we are supposed to do but generally don’t? You could do that in the same amount of time that you show people pulling Gore’s big switch. What about a commercial that shows exactly how to tighten up a window, add an interior storm, use curtains and valences to reduce heat loss, put on insulating shutters or shades? That would teach people to do something that would help them save energy and money as well as keep them more comfortable this winter.
I made some PSAs for my local solar association in the early 1980s. They were 15 second pieces. One was “A southfacing window is already a solar collector. Learn how to use it. Contact your local solar energy association.” Another was “A southfacing porch can become a greenhouse or sunspace. Learn how to do it. Contact your local solar energy association.”
In the early 1990s, I made another series of PSAs. These were 30 seconds. One was a review of solar history from the Greeks and Romans up to the then present day. The point was that solar has always been available and always been used as an energy source.
Another compared the 400,000 btu’s a square foot of Boston receives from sunlight to its equivalent in gallons of fuel oil, watts of electricity, and cords of wood.
Recently, I did a nearly two minute piece using WWII posters about energy and resource conservation. It shows how we fought WWII using our Homefront Advantage and compares that to how we are fighting our wars now.
I have a script for one on Solar IS Civil Defense and may do another on a 1980 barnraised solar air heater that has been producing solar space heat without any maintenance since then. That air heater has helped to pay for the PV panels that are now on the roof of the house.
That’s what I’d like to see, real solutions that people can make use of immediately, the simple things that we all can do today and that most people don't even consider. Seems to me that would be more effective than showing people pushing against a giant on/off switch.
But, then, what do I know? I’ve been advising this tactic for thirty years now and, as far as I can see, nobody has listened yet.