Expert: Using Less Electricity Could Lessen Burden Of Recovery From Disasters

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Natural disasters cost every one of us, even if we're not hit by a hurricane or tornado and someone has added up the bill.

A study from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) finds the U.S. government spent about $100 billion on disaster relief in 2012, about $1,100 per person, continuing a trend of shifting the burden of recovery from private insurers to government.

Dan Lashoff of the NRDC says a cure is using less and cleaner electricity.

"In many cases, consumers are actually going to see a reduction in their electricity bills because increases in energy efficiency mean we use less electricity so that can compensate for paying slightly more for renewable energy," Lashoff explains.

Obviously, any one of us doing that makes very little, if any, difference on the climate change front, but Lashoff hopes that many people together can.

For more information visit: www.nrdc.org/globalwarming.