Brooks: Yes, we can conserve energy

Columnist Jeanne Brooks of The Greenville (SC) News highlights a major point made in the Center's Getting Greener book - - that Southern states need to try conserving energy instead of building more power plants. The payoff: a cleaner environment, less smog, more money in consumers' pockets.

"South Carolina consumed the fourth highest amount of electricity per person in the nation in 2003. We used more than Texas (No. 15), North Carolina (No. 16) and Georgia (No. 18). We used more than Florida (No. 27)!

We used so much electricity that although we pay one of the cheaper rates, the monthly bill for an average homeowner here was seventh highest in the country. Conservation can't help? We haven't really tried."

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