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More and more people are getting energy active every day! In fact, the Get Energy Active site now averages 3,400 visitors per day from around the world. Thank you for visiting the site and signing up to receive our monthly newsletters. Don't forget to bookmark the site and check back frequently for updates. And tell your friends to Get Energy Active too.

New Feature: Our Interactive House Helps You Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Your "carbon footprint" refers to the approximate amount of greenhouse gases produced—either directly or indirectly—as a result of your lifestyle. Everything from your home energy usage to the distance of your daily commute to the type of food you eat affects the size of your carbon footprint.

Check out the new feature on our Get Energy Active Web site—a Flash-based, interactive house that is designed to help you learn what you can do to shrink the size of your carbon footprint, while using electricity wisely.

Explore the house now

Hot Topic: U.S. and China Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The International Energy Agency's (IEA's) World Energy Outlook 2007 estimates that carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from China surpassed those from the United States in 2007. This updates IEA's previous estimate of China surpassing U.S. CO₂ emissions in 2009.

Because of the global nature of climate change, solutions will require the participation of the entire world economy, including developing nations like China. Unless all major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including key developing countries, commit to reducing emissions, efforts by the United States to reduce its GHG emissions will be offset by rising overall global emissions from other countries.

Nuclear Energy In Focus

The U.S. nuclear industry supplied a record 806.5 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity in 2007. The largest increase came in Tennessee, with 4 billion kWh more nuclear-provided electricity in 2007 than in 2006, an increase of 16 percent, according to preliminary Energy Information Administration (EIA) data released on March 31. National total nuclear generation was 2.4 percent higher than in 2006, and 2.3 percent higher than in the previous record year, 2004. The capacity factor (the amount of power actually generated compared with the maximum amount that could be generated) for 2007 was 91.8 percent, exceeding the previous record capacity factor of 90.3 percent in 2002.

It's Time to Clean Up on Spring Energy Savings

Are you thinking about spring cleaning? When you're busy washing the woodwork and sweeping under the rugs, don't forget about cleaning your home's appliances and energy-consuming equipment. You'll be making your home more comfortable and enjoyable, and you'll also be getting more value from your energy dollar.

Listed below are 10 tips to get you started and an estimate on the electricity savings you can expect:

• Dust your light bulbs and shades, and install compact fluorescent lamps (save about 66 percent on lighting cost per fixture).
• Clean/replace your air conditioning system's filter (save up to 5 percent on cooling costs), and set the thermostat to 78 degrees for times when someone is home, and at 85 degrees when the house is vacant (save 1 to 2 percent on cooling costs for each degree you raise the thermostat setting).
• Dust your curtains, and on hot, sunny days, close those on windows facing south and west (save 2 to 4 percent on cooling costs).
• Trim back any plants or vines growing around your outdoor air conditioning unit, and have a professional tune up the system (save up to 5 percent on cooling costs).
• Vacuum your refrigerator's coils, and if the unit is more than 15 years old, consider replacing it with an ENERGY STAR-qualified model (save at least 40 percent on its electricity use).
• Flush out the sediment from the bottom of your hot water heater, and set its temperature to 120 degrees (save 7 to 11 percent of water heating costs).
• Thoroughly dust your computers, CD/DVD players, TVs, and VCRs, and then unplug them when not in use (save up to 30 percent on their overall electricity use—note that the programming settings on some appliances may be affected).
• Wash/dry full loads of clothes during the evening and use cold water as often as possible (save up to 4 percent on water heating costs).
• Scrub your bathtub, and then install energy-saving showerheads, faucets or flow restrictors (cut water-heating costs by 10 percent to 16 percent).
• If you have a swimming pool, clean it out and switch the pool filter and sweeper operations to early morning or late evening hours. Also, consider replacing pool pumps and motors with energy-efficient equipment (energy savings depend on your use).

Take Our Latest Poll

Visit the site and take this month's poll about reducing your carbon footprint. You can also sound off on our discussion board. And learn what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint—while using electricity wisely.

Remember to visit the site each month to answer a new poll question.

Take our poll today!