Would you like to help the United States cut 158 million tons of global warming pollution a year? Thought so.

How about saving Americans $123 billion over the next 20 years?

Right again.

What if you could do both at the same time?

That’s how much pollution we could cut and money we could save by adopting strong new national energy efficiency standards for common household and commercial appliances.

According to a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, if the Department of Energy adopts strong efficiency standards for 26 products scheduled for review during President Obama’s first term, we could cut more than 10 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions by 2030—a big chunk of the cuts necessary to stave off catastrophic levels of global warming.

ACEEE and ASAP say strong efficiency standards would be equivalent to taking 30 million cars off the road, and would eliminate the need for more than 200 new coal-fired power plants. In the process, they’d save consumers and businesses lots of money.

While opponents of stronger standards say they would increase the cost of new appliances, the report shows how consumers would come out ahead, because the products would use less energy. For example, new standards might add $50 to the cost of a clothes dryer. But the dryer would pay for itself in less than five years. A washer might cost $100 more, but would pay for itself in a little over two years.

Earthjustice, which sits on the steering committee of ASAP, is helping the lead the push to make efficiency the foundation of our nation’s clean energy future. We’re working with DOE to make sure the department adopts strong standards, and have gone to court to challenge weak standards proposed by the Bush administration. Learn more, and let the President know you support his efficiency initiatives, at our United States of Efficiency page.