Merchants should keep the cold air inside on hot days

While the local news media is urging us to conserve energy usage during this recent extreme heat wave, 16 Crocker Park merchants continued their corporate policy of opening their front doors to the street at mid-afternoon, on Tuesday, July 19.  In my opinion, this is an outrageous waste of electricity and may be short-sighted on their part.

By cooling the outdoors, these businesses increase the possibility of us experiencing rolling blackouts or even a widespread power outage. Recall what it was like to be without power for several days in the August 2003 heat wave that knocked out our electrical power grid. We couldn’t pump gasoline into our cars, the electronic cash/credit registers were silenced and we were without running water. We couldn’t even cool off by taking a bath or shower. 

In the long term, corporate policies that ignore energy conservation may result in higher cost of electricity for all of us. Think about it. When our utility bills go up, we will have less discretionary dollars to spend at these establishments. That will hurt their bottom line and, in turn, our overall economy.            

As Bill O’Reilly would ask: Pinhead or Patriot? Be a Patriot and ask the merchants to keep their cooled air inside. If they don’t honor your request, just shop elsewhere. The power is in your pocket .

– Jayne Broestl, Westlake