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Ed Begley Jr. Creates Own Energy When Talking Conservation
Using a combination of humor and anecdotes, Ed Begley Jr. inspired a crowd of nearly 70 at the quarterly Community Environmental Council Partnership Council Breakfast last week at the Santa Barbara Club. A leader in the environmental movement since 1970, the actor and activist focused on the roles of economics, human health and national security in convincing people to clean up the environment.
Inspired by his father, someone Begley calls “a conservative who liked to conserve,” Begley grew up in a household where conservation and reuse were common practice: foil was reused and lights were always turned off when not in use. The family’s lifestyle stemmed from the Depression-era sentiment of “waste not, want not” rather than a desire to save the environment. However, these habits set the stage for the younger Begley to become a pioneer role model for an eco-friendly life.
Begley began what we would call “environmental practices” as a young man in 1969, just before the first Earth Day. His first actions were those that he could afford on an extremely limited budget: bicycling and using a rain barrel to harvest water. These early measures saved him money that he reinvested in other green strategies. After 15 years of small steps, Begley saved enough to purchase a solar thermal water heater. With the dollars saved in avoided water heating costs, Begley invested in a wind turbine that runs to this day and allows him to be carbon negative, while helping to produce locally sourced energy for several homes and businesses.
The toughest choice Begley has ever made? In 1989 he decided to stop purchasing gasoline from the pump (recognizing that many of our products are created with or transported by petroleum products). He spent years biking and busing around Los Angeles, not an alternative commuter’s paradise. Buses often ran late, if at all, and bike paths were minimal at best. But Begley called it a “gift from God” because it caused his type-A personality to go into mandatory slow down. Biking around Los Angeles will get you nowhere fast, but it will get you in great physical shape — another benefit cited by Begley.
The easiest choice? Conservation. Conserving energy costs much less than creating energy, and with rebates offered by state and federal governments, practices like insulation, energy-efficient windows and duct sealing are within everyone’s reach. The Begley family was even able to decrease its energy bills by almost half after a recent energy audit revealed some much needed improvements.
Begley encouraged the Santa Barbara Club audience to start with the Community Environmental Council’s Get Energized! pledge and to use it as a guide book on how to save money and save energy in their own lives.
In the end his message was a practical one: Act today, do the cheap and easy, strive to do one more thing. The value of our natural resources like trees is not that they just exist, but that they help us clean the air, provide habitat, and present opportunities for recreation and tourism. Begley also reminded the audience that the “economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment” and not the other way around.
— Kathi Brennan King is the Community Environmental Council’s donor relations program manager.
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» on 03.08.10 @ 12:00 AM
Rich liberal who has made it, and want us all to be like him??
Liberal nut case—Its Ameriaca’s fault always..Global warming is a lie..
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» on 03.08.10 @ 08:23 AM
I found this message of encouragement and example quite a contrast to Justin Tevis’ report from the Wall Street Journal’s EcoNomics conference.
Begley set an example with voluntary low-cost and low-carbon footprint items.
Tevis noted what he felt were compulsory, high-cost difficult-to-implement items.
Begley walked the talk. His approach is one available to everyone. The examples Tevis decried were available to almost no-one. (as he noted, they weren’t economicially viable without subsidies.
As an aside, Tevis’s assertions about the cost of natural gas cars seem to miss the point that Honda has been selling a price competitive Civic for at many years and the refueling device installed in the garage is hardly an $80k investment—rather costs about $1,500 and refuels the car from the house’s natural gas system.
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» on 03.08.10 @ 09:07 AM
Richard…and the natural gas that comes from the house’s natural gas system….comes from where? God forbid, not from drilling!
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» on 03.08.10 @ 02:16 PM
Ah, the practicality of being poor. I did all those things too Ed and still do some, not for environmental reasons but economic ones. But what is Ed going to do with all those people who are only alive because of fossil fuels? Like the other 80% of us, including Ed. Oh, but wait Ed is rich and does not have to depend on our petroleum culture to survive anymore. He can buy his way into a slower life where he has time for such life enhancing activities as growing your own food, gathering your own fuel and building your own shelter. Except for one thingy that Ed left out. When he tires of having 100% of his waking time spent in the drudgery of survival living he can buy all the luxury he wants, something the rest of us poor slobs don’t have the opportunity to do. So Ed, yes conserve as a matter of being a principled and thrifty citizen. Even as an environmentalist if it makes you feel good. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that we will be able to “save” our way out of oil. Not unless you want to lighten demand by about 4 billion human beings.
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