Stop the Presses

1. According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, "Energy Use Can Be Cut by Efficiency, Survey Says," so says the New York Times. From the article:

The growth rate of worldwide energy consumption could be cut by more than half over the next 15 years through more aggressive energy-efficiency efforts by households and industry...

The energy savings, the report said, can be achieved with current technology and would save money for consumers and companies. The McKinsey report offers a long list of suggested steps, including the adoption of compact fluorescent light bulbs, improved insulation on new buildings, reduced standby power requirements, an accelerated push for appliance-efficiency standards and the use of solar water heaters.

Those moves, among others, could reduce the yearly growth rate in worldwide energy demand through 2020 to six-tenths of a percent, from a forecast annual rate of 2.2 percent, the report concluded.

2. According to a new report "Disparities in the District" from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, "Poverty Is Major Cause of Social Problems in the District of Columbia" (this is the subtitle of the report).

3. Relatedly, I was thinking about something I read in the Philadelphia Inquirer, in the article "A response to violence: Frisking" about gun crime:

"Homicide is going up among cities with large African American populations living in isolated poverty," said Penn's Sherman. "If you want to understand the reasons... look at the things common to these societies: fads in carrying guns, or the increased reentry [into the community] of people coming out of prisons... . In Philadelphia, it appears to be the more common phenomenon of the revolving door."

What occurred to me is that all the people who claim that gun control is part of the problem with crime in DC--in theory because people more easily become victims because they can't arm themselves, and criminals with guns feel "safe" because it's unlikely that people they accost will be armed--is pretty much b.s. because the kinds of people the gun ownership advocates are thinking about when making such proposals are unlikely to be victims of crime anyway.

Courtland Milloy's column from July, "Violent Robberies Make It Hard to Ignore D.C.'s Vicious Side," is particularly good with sound analysis. From the article:

The District has the largest disparity between rich and poor of any city in the country; the well-to-do may be enjoying their wealth too much to really notice. But the geographic distance between the two groups could hardly be smaller, and now there's apparently more resentment to go with the proximity.

Index Keywords: energy; public-safety; poverty