Another environmental issue rising to the top of America's consciousness is the concept of global climate change. Although the debate continues over what the scientific research shows-and to what extent human activity is responsible-many Americans say that global climate change is already happening. Taking a proactive course of action now to limit the "greenhouse gas" emissions that your hotels produce through their energy use could yield similar benefits to your customers and to your bottom line as the campaign to conserve water.

President Urges Voluntary Efforts

Recently, President Bush announced a plan to address climate change that relies on the use of a new metric-greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity (linking emissions to gross domestic product, GDP)-to slow and eventually reverse the growth of GHG emissions. The President's approach relies heavily on voluntary efforts to reduce U.S. GHG intensity by 18 percent by 2012, a goal the administration calls "ambitious but achievable."

Becoming more energy efficient is a logical and effective way for the hotel industry to reduce its greenhouse gas intensity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, every kilowatt-hour of electricity your company doesn't use prevents 1.34 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. And, with energy typically accounting for three to five ...