Monday the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a series of 15- and 30-second public service announcements aimed at informing Americans of small changes they can make in their daily lives to play a part in curbing climate change.
The videos, all of which can be viewed on the Act on Climate Change YouTube channel, ask Americans to do things such as switch from incandescent to energy-efficient light bulbs, electing to bike, walk or use public transportation instead of driving alone and keeping the air conditioner on a slightly higher temperature during the summer to both save money and reduce the individual impact on climate change.
One video states that if every home in America replaced its five most used light bulbs with Energy Star certified CFL or LED blubs it would amount to "$8 billion each year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to ten million cars."
Riffing on the same message, another of the videos highlights the savings an individual household can attain by using energy-efficient bulbs.
"Energy Star bulbs can save you $75 dollars a year. That's almost $2,000 in savings over five years," the narrator claims, implying that each energy efficient bulb used will save homeowners $75 a year, with five of the bulbs used in a year yeilding savings of $375, which is $1,875 over five years.
The new video series is in support of the Obama administration's Climate Action Plan by encouraging American families to reduce the amount of energy they consume, create less waste and protect pubic health by reducing emissions.
"On June 25th, President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution and prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change," the EPA said in a statement issued as the videos were released. "A warming climate can adversely impact water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems as well as health and safety of Americans and the nation's economy. These videos show that there are simple things that all Americans can do to help."