Last Sunday's Daily Camera story about the disturbingly high CO2 readings that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office in Boulder recorded is consistent with other news from the past week: the release of the American Association for the Advancement of Science report "What We Know: Reality, Risks and Response to Climate Change;" and the White House inauguration of a website where people will be able to check predictions of climate change impacts on local landscapes ( The message of the AAAS report is that climate change is already intensifying the hurricanes, droughts, heavy rains and floods that are battering the United States, and if we don't take action now, we are at risk of pushing the global climate system into even more massively disruptive changes.

In the face of these predictions, what can we do as individuals to reduce our CO2 emissions? One of the most effective actions we can take is to make our homes more energy efficient, since about 40 percent of the energy consumed in the United States goes into heating, cooling and lighting buildings. Despite the City of Boulder's efforts to create a new utility system based on more renewable energy sources, that shift isn't going to happen quickly. Meanwhile, we can make the energy we use go much further, and Boulder County has a great program called Energy Smart that helps property owners do this.


When my husband and I bought a new home in Boulder in 2012, a friend told us that the first thing we needed to do was to sign up with Energy Smart. We'll always be grateful for her advice, and every property owner in Boulder County ought to know about the program. They begin with an energy audit to determine where warmed or cooled air is escaping and where a switch to more efficient appliances would stop the biggest losses. The program maintains a list of approved contractors, and each household gets its own Energy Smart advisor who helps vet competing bids and weigh the costs and benefits of different options, shares information about rebates and discounts, and helps with rebate applications. To this day, we can contact our advisor if we have new questions.

The program made the process of transforming our drafty, inefficient house into a snug home that stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer as easy and affordable as possible. Unless you recently bought a new house built to the highest green tech standards, give them a call. The reductions in greenhouse gases that you achieve will last the life of your house, and you will feel more comfortable and save money on utility bills at the same time (; 303-544-1000).

Louise Chawla is a professor in the Environmental Design Program at the University of Colorado.