When 'green' catches on

No one claims the so-called green movement will eliminate the nation's energy woes. But technologies that are becoming increasingly available and affordable could help reduce ordinary North Carolinians' energy bill, improve air quality and, bit by bit, even slow global warming.

Energy costs have taken a huge bite out of the paychecks of many Americans. It's not surprising that more and more consumers are looking for ways to save a few bucks on energy costs.

One way becoming increasingly popular in this area is more energy-efficient home design and construction. Gone are the days when panels used to turn solar energy into electricity were prohibitively expensive and questionably efficient. Panels that once cost $8,000 to $12,000, for instance, now go for $1,800.

Also gone are the days when energy-efficient homes were popular mostly with homesteading tree-huggers seeking alternative lifestyles. While those idealistic pioneers laid the important groundwork for the improved technology now on the market, today's "green" family is just as likely to live in a traditional subdivision.

Major home appliance manufacturers are building more efficient washers and dryers as well as home heating and air conditioning systems. Now home construction companies and suppliers are making alternative energy design a routine part of suburban living.

Such steps, by themselves, will not eliminate the need for new power plants, but they can slow the bulldozers. It will take more than solar energy and hybrid cars to break the nation's addiction to foreign energy. But they can hasten the liberation.