A few things.

"Doing stuff is better than waiting" correlates to 'Pre-emptive strike" in my mind. Although in this case I think the idea of energy-proofing homes is a good one.

However, I think something like this reads too much like the upper crust can come help the little guy too.

He mis-pronounces Wilkes-Barre, which may not sound like much, but "Eich bin Ein Berliner", eh?

Also it just comes off as staged. You're right about the whole top-down thing.

The 'pre-emptive strike' comment was meant to be humorous, guess I should have added 'LOL'.

Other than that though...

Errr... yes and no. I definitely do believe in DIY action. But when that action isn't well thought out, it becomes futile. Similarly, when that action is a drop in the ocean, while an equal amount of action in another area can be many times more effective, I'll go so far as to say that action is a misapplied effort.

But thats not what I see here. I see contrived political staging here.

Truth be told, insulating your pipes won't ever show up on you gas bill. Whereas turning your thermostat down 5 degrees and putting on a sweater will. For a lot less effort.

To take it a step further - although this won't register on a political front. That's polyethelene foam their using - probably took more oil/pollution/environmental damage impact to produce the insulation than they'll save in the years till that foam winds up in a landfill.

So taking those two things hand in hand I'd say this rings as completely fake to me.

When I see thing like this, where its literally a drop in the figurative ocean, with a politician in an Obviously Staged Scenario, I get a little ruffled.

I am an eco-nut. I do believe in reducing carbon emissions, energy independence, and sustainable design. While I can take it further than I do, I definitely have a lower carbon footprint than the next guy 9 times out of ten.

So when I see a politician steal that platform, without offering something significant back towards it, I get a little pissed.

I think it was you (and correct me if I'm wrong) who once railed against 'National days of Action' as if these are things tat we shouldn't be doing every day.

To me, this is nothing but political message - not true action, or DIY ethics. Its a contrived situation for John Edwards to look like 'the common man' and act like he's doing something significant for energy independence.

Now, maybe I'm being harsh. But I already am seeing the next round of politicking coming around and its already looking like a lot of talk and no alk from my end. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm just so tired of hearing our leaders become out and out liars. I've grown to expect it.

Sorry you caught me on an 'upset for our country's state' day. But then again, maybe I'm not - I wish more people would get pissed off about this stuff

P.S.
There was a great article from the BBC today about how politicians are somehow managing to twist scientists words from "Reduce carbon emissions" to "Reduce the acceleration" meaning that changing a global 2% increase per year to a global 1.5% increase per year in carbon emissions is OK. Its not.

I've been informed that perhaps some people do pronounce Wilkes-Barre 'berry' as opposed to my belief in 'bear'. The world may never know.

All my other points stand though.