Obama Aiming at Raising Your Utility Bills

Posted by Kelly Smith Mar 3, 2009

Got your attention, yes? Yes, it's sad but true. With the new policies that are coming out of the Obama administration and those that are planned for the future, your electricity and gas bills are going up.

Why? For one thing, he's hot for cap and trade. "What's that?" you ask. Ostensibly, it's a "market-based policy tool for protecting human health and the environment," according to www.epa.org. Basically, this is all about reducing our carbon footprint.

Sounds rosy, doesn't it? Well, sure; but implementation is the problem as far as consumers are concerned. These changes don't come cheap. And rather than let the market take us that way naturally (which it's doing quite well right now, thank you very much), cap and trade puts it all under a bloated government program.

It's going to get paid for by huge taxes on crude oil and natural gas, which will be passed to the consumers, big time.

You know what I'm always harping on. My mantra: reduce your power bills now. How? Home lighting is a good place to start. Replace incandescents with CFL bulbs. I did this in my home a few years ago, and it does make a difference.

Done? Good; that was the easy part. There are many other ways to tweak your home's energy eficiency, but you must prioritize. Check out this energy efficiency checklist and proceed from there.

Bookmark this page and stay tuned for more saving ideas.