This has been in my writing queue for over a month. As part of my resolution to write more, I thought the easiest place to start would be to flesh out the ideas that I’ve already scribbled down.

It doesn’t take an economics professor or a petroleum geologist to know that energy is a big issue in all aspects of society: technology, politics, military, economics, and social issues. And anyone who follows America’s energy policy know that it’s oriented towards resource extraction, increasing energy supply, and tax breaks for producers. Lots of people criticize this approach, but one man has risen above the debate.

Amory Lovins is a founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, which does more stuff than I can even begin to summarize. The premise is that rather than viewing energy conservation as a social good or something to be done out of guilt, investment in energy efficiency can be done profitably and indeed must be done to remain competitive. Mr. Lovins charges a $40,000 speaking fee (he’s obviously not going to be at my birthday party) but thanks to the internet, you can listen to a complete 9 part lecture series he gave at Stanford. He covers energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industry, and the implications that this massive efficiency increase would have. Most of his claims sounds too ridiculous to even be possible, but for almost all of them he points to a real client or implementation where actual results were obtained, not just theoretical projections. It was so amazing that half the time I was either laughing out loud or my jaw was dropped in awe.

So without further ado, if you’re at all interested in the economics of energy, go to the Conversations Network and listen to all the talks in the MAP Energy Efficiency Series. It’s an amazing 10 hour investment that will change your perspective completely forever.