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Clark Howard's Tips

July 1, 2008

Several states are doing some things that Clark sees as a sign of the times.

Hawaii is banning traditional water heaters in all new construction. The Aloha State is now requiring solar water heaters. While solar water heaters cost about 7 times what a traditional heater does, you can make your money back in a couple of years. This move should save homeowners $50/month on average.

But there's so much more we can do. Clark read a very disturbing story in Business Week that detailed how the coal industry is trying to use political influence to virtually outlaw windmills in the Great Plains states.

We as a nation should not allow dirty money to prevent us from having clean sources of energy. The Business Week story focused on a Kansas rancher who overcame dirty money to get a windmill operation up and running. Clark salutes this determination to make a change.

Meanwhile, California is putting stickers on cars that provide a smog rating and a global warming rating. Whether you believe in global warming or not, no one can deny that smog exists. Under the current system, a score of 10 represents the lowest levels of pollution and a score of 1 the highest.

Car manufacturers are obviously not happy about this -- unless they make what are called "super ultra low-emission vehicles." For example, the Honda Civic Hybrid has a smog rating of 9 and a global warming rating of 10.

These stickers are voluntary for now until next January when a law mandating them throughout the Golden State goes into effect.

Consumer advice courtesy of