Most of the time, I feel like I'm doing my part to save energy, and I'm getting better all the time. But sometimes I feel like what I do to try to offset the unfathomable amount of energy that's consumed around me, and around the country, is so tiny that my actions won't make a ripple of difference. I wonder how the few hundred kilowatt hours per month I shave off through my conscientious behavior and my use of energy-efficient products and appliances means something in the face of the American economic juggernaut. Think about the incredible amount of fuel used by the cars and trucks in the American fleet or the electricity used in powering the factories, schools, hospitals and offices that make our world go round. It's hard to wrap your head around it. But one of the most exciting things I learned about the Department of Energy when I came to work here was that I wasn't alone—that experts have been working for many years in the Industrial Technologies Program and the Building Te... [More]