(By e-mail) Energy efficiency is the lowest-hanging fruit that will increase our net energy supply immediately. According to the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, cost effective, common sense efficiency measures in Colorado could help us avoid 2,500 megawatts of new power capacity – about five new power plants.

Specifically, the average home could reduce its natural gas use by 20-30 percent with a comprehensive energy efficiency retrofit. Also, energy efficient appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners or heaters – coupled with efficient windows and water boilers – help to increase a home’s efficiency.

In Congress, I will work to promote energy efficiency tax incentives, national service programs like AmeriCorps, and work with local and nonprofit partnerships through the Community Development Block Grant system.

The next step is to pursue clean renewable energy sources. The potential for wind and solar energy in Colorado is immense. Colorado has over 600 million megawatt-hours per year of potential electricity generation from wind – 12 times the amount of the state’s yearly consumption. Colorado has an additional 83 million MWh per year of potential electricity generation from solar energy.

In Congress, I will support a long-term extension of the solar, wind, and geothermal tax credits, a renewable portfolio standard that requires 30 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, and implementation of a national net metering standard. These policies will immediately begin to realign our priorities and create incentives for people and businesses to act.

On the transportation side, I would immediately eliminate disincentives and create incentives related to telecommuting. If people drove to work one less day per week, there would be a 20 percent reduction in work-related driving. In addition, I would re-establish the tax incentives for the purchase of super fuel-efficient vehicles.

By reducing energy use and replacing carbon intensive energy sources with clean renewable energy, our country can take important steps in reducing its carbon footprint. Global warming is our generation’s greatest challenge and we must do all that we can to reduce our carbon emissions to avoid the consequences of climate change.