For example, a goal was that we should consume less, even where less meant also less comfort, less productivity, and fewer goods and services - regardless of the cost effectiveness . The mistake was in presuming that conserving less energy was the goal, and that the goal had an intrinsic value. In fact, the energy experience indicates that conservation mandates and subsidized efficiency will not even achieve the goal of reducing net consumption. HR 623 is indeed worthy of support. Yet the underlying problem that motivated passage of those standards should not be dismissed lightly.
Conservationists are right to fret over the excessive consumption of water in the United States.
Yet there is no reason for panic. Total water consumption has declined over the past 20 years despite growth in population and national GDP, and per capita use today is lower than at any time since 1965. Absolute water consumption is about where it was in 1975. 18 Steep projections of future needs are flawed in that they confuse need with demand. If the regulators leave water sellers free to make water prices more nearly represent the marginal cost of supply, and if realistic pricing policies are pursued in cases where the supply has to be controlled by government, then the forecast crisis will never take place.