5 Myths About Earth-Friendly Energy

Landmark legislation in the past, such as the 1862 Homestead Act and the 1933 act that created the Tennessee Valley Authority, has used federal resources to spur development. A similar plan for wind, solar and geothermal power on public lands in the Southwest could produce as much electricity as 75 to 100 coal plants, says Bob Epstein, a co-founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs. And each green gigawatt brings along other bonuses, in the form of tech innovation and rural jobs.

4. Americans are comfortable paying more than $3 for gas. (Otherwise, we'd leave that SUV in the garage.)

Actually, we don't understand gas's hidden costs. Studies have shown that a few Americans know how much they spend each month on gas at the pump, but no one has any idea how much we pay for the stuff each April 15. Milton R. Copulos of the National Defense Council Foundation figures that we fork over a stunning $10.07 per gallon in extra costs, including 51 cents for asthma treatment, $1.21 for pollution abatement, $1.39 for defense expenditures and $5.19 for economic costs -- and that doesn't include the long-haul costs of dealing with greenhouse gases.

The true costs could be far lower, but surely it's time to get some good estimates and print them on gas pumps, receipts and billboards. If this sounds a lot like the surgeon general's warning on cigarettes, it is. We use gas with the same unconscious abandon that 1960s smokers used cigarettes as diet aids. Acknowledging the consequences won't change our habits overnight, but it will change our values over time. (Just ask the tobacco companies.)

5. The stock market rewards companies that use energy efficiently and punishes those that don't.

It'd be nice to think so, but publicly traded companies don't have to tell anyone how much energy they or their products consume. A study last year by Calvert (an investment firm) and Ceres (a coalition of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups) found that more than half of the Fortune 500 companies did a poor job of disclosing the risks climate change poses to their businesses. I suspect this will soon change. In a few years, it may be as easy to figure out which companies are ready for the future as it is to find out which oil companies have increased their reserves and which have increased their debts. Until then, I'm going to try to sock away some of my share of that $517 billion.

margonelli@newamerica.net

Lisa Margonelli, a fellow at the New America Foundation, is the author of "Oil on the Brain: Petroleum's Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank."