We like cheap gasoline. A penny or two less and we pull in to the pumps, when the savings really don’t amount to a hill of beans.

It’s the same with Efficiency Maine’s rebates, which get people in the door to reducing their energy use. But unlike gas, energy efficiency saves us year after year in reduced heating and electricity costs that far exceed the incentive.

You’d think these long-term savings would motivate us to take the plunge even without the incentives, but people are funny. We feel like the cost reduction from, say, $7 to $3 on an LED light bulb purchase is all-important, when in fact it’s the long-term savings over the 22-year life of the bulb we should be paying attention to.

Efficiency Maine understands this foible of human nature, and by making good use of it has been extremely successful at reducing air pollution and saving people a bundle of cash.

Would over 100 people on Peaks Island have weatherized their homes in 2013 without an incentive? Doubtful.

Would significant numbers of islanders have joined heat pump purchase groups two years running without the $500 rebate offered by Efficiency Maine? Or bought 1,100 LED bulbs resold by PEAT, our environmental group on the island? Surely not.

The governor says he wants to help Mainers reduce their energy costs. If he means what he says, he should work with both Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature to restore full funding to Efficiency Maine, no strings attached.

Sam Saltonstall

Peaks Island

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