Saving Energy

I'm not sure if most people realize this, but a tremendous amount of energy could be saved if people lowered their thermostats by one or two degrees in the winter and raised them by a couple of degrees in the summer. Also, having a well insulated house can dramatically cut down on your energy useage. In a typical house, as much as 30% of the energy used to heat/cool it escapes due to leaks and/or insufficient insulation. Yet another way to save energy in your home is to get a new furnace if your's is old. Older furnaces can have efficiencies of 70% or less, but new ones can be more than 90% efficient. While you're at it, lowering the tempreture of your water heater a few degrees can also save energy and saving energy saves you money.

Our waterways could be used more to eliminate some of the transport on the highways. Today I was watching an historical narrative about New York State on German TV. The Erie Canal is one of our historic waterways, connecting the great lakes with New York City. In 1817, Gov. Clinton of NY authorized the spending of 7 million dollars for the construction of a canal 363 miles long. By 1882 the tolls were abolished since the canal had already paid for itself. It ceased to function as a major waterway transport in the 1980’s. Road transport was the primary cause.
Re-instating more economical means of transport while helping our environment is available. I would assume that our other waterways could also be used to handle much of the transport.

It would take much less energy to transport goods via ship or barge over the nation's waterways than it does to use trucks. Barges and ships can transport much more cargo than trucks and use less fuel to transport a given weight of freight than trucks. Besides, reducing the number of trucks on the road would help reduce traffic congestion. Bring back the barges and ships, it's a good idea and while we're at it, we should bring back the trains too. A train can transport a given amount of freight about 10 times further than a truck on the same amount of fuel.