[makecheck]

It is great to be knowledgeable about energy consumption and conservation methods and to try to spread that knowledge. Realistically however, any action is negligible unless it is done by industries that will have a huge effect on the environment (airlines, for instance).

If you want to achieve X, it is ultimately best to spend your time convincing a certain number of local businesses to do X, or petitioning governments, etc.

[mattlutze]

Lobbying private or public interests is definitely important if you want to have an impact. The other half of that is that people have to actually do the things you're lobbying for.

Implementing these ideas personally is more than just collecting knowledge -- it's contributing to the desired effect.

To boot, in a conversation where you'll subsequently advocate for energy consumption, one of the easiest ways to build trust will be to speak from a position of experience -- to know what probing questions to ask about your audience's life experiences that will help them build a future story in which they're enjoying conserving energy.