Congressman Fortenberry was in the news that crossed my desk today. http://midwestenergynews.com/2016/03/09/wayward-mouse-prompts-nebraska-republicans-energy-revolution/

It seems that his time on the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee informs his understanding of the value of energy efficiency. I say, good for him.

Most of my professional life is spent working to help businesses understand the balance between short term costs and long term benefits, between the uncalculated social cost and the out of pocket expense. Here's Congressman Fortenberry puts it:  "The conservative logic, if you will, is the externality costs of the hydrocarbons are not accounted for in production costs. That creates an unleveled playing field. There is real social cost to that, it's just not reflected in the market price."

What is just a little amazing is that this is news. The idea that conservatives don't champion conservation goes counter to history. Just check out this page, a great source of Republican historical support of conservation: http://conservamerica.org/conservativequotes/

Happy to hear you thoughts.