Energy conservation would help

I read with great interest Daniel Akst's piece on our country's inability to move forward with any semblance of sanity toward an intelligent energy policy ["Drilling? No. Turbines? No. Nuclear? Forget it," Opinion, March 21]. No drilling, no fracking, no nukes -- and renewable energy is not nearly adequate for our needs at this time. What a sorry state we are in.

I own a small start-up, energy-conservation company. We find, import and sell high-efficiency LED lights for almost every use. I agree with Akst's point that when all else fails, conserve!

I had my first new full-size truck weeks before the mid-1970s oil embargo and spent a lot of time waiting in gas station lines. It made a lasting impression. I built myself a passive solar home that I heated with wood for years, and my company owns two Prius cars. I'm not a fanatic, I just think I get it.

When the price of oil was escalating in 2008, I again started in earnest looking for something to sell, build or install that would either produce energy or conserve it. I looked first at solar. To my amazement, it was not much further along than when I built my home in the early 1980s.

Nonetheless, I got certified and became a solar voltaic dealer. I purchased a $30,000 system and installed it at my office. Three years later, I'm really disappointed. With a perfect orientation and great exposure, my system had a disappointingly low effect on my electric bill.

So, my search goes on. Geothermal looked promising, but the expected return was quite long, and it is difficult to retrofit most existing homes.

Ed Rowland

Nesconset