When First Selectman Joe Borst signed his name to a memorandum of understanding with the state’s Clean Energy Fund, committing the town to being a Connecticut Clean Energy Community, one could be excused for writing off the event as yet another empty gesture in the name of environmental protection. This commitment, however, is no empty gesture. It will require an investment of about $16,000 in additional energy costs up front for the long-term dividend of reducing Newtown’s — and by extension, the country’s — reliance on fossil fuels.

Newtown’s commitment in this particular instance is to purchase at least 20 percent of electricity used for municipal purposes from renewable sources by the year 2010. Newtown’s own Clean Energy Task Force has set the bar a little higher — at 26 percent — and the Board of Selectman last month agreed to that higher goal. In addition, the local task force has challenged homeowners and businesses to meet the same challenge by considering the clean energy alternatives and opportunities, including wind power. The task force earns $20 for every household that signs up, and the town gets a free two-kilowatt solar panel for every 100 households that participate.

This program recognizes the potential of personal action and responsibility to wean this country from its expensive and environmentally destructive addiction to fossil fuels. It is a concept that has come in for its fair share of criticism through the years. President Jimmy Carter was ridiculed for suggesting that people wear sweaters during the oil crisis of the 1970s. And a recent observation made by the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that people could help in the country’s struggle with high gas prices by properly inflating their tires and keeping their vehicles tuned inspired widespread mockery by his opponents, who favor expanded offshore drilling. Never mind that these two fuel-saving tips are actually good ideas that have been widely promoted by auto companies, tire makers, and government experts for years. The US Department of Energy estimated in 2005 that American motorists waste 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline a year (roughly 61 million barrels of oil) by driving on underinflated tires. That is 61 million barrels of oil that would start to become available on the market tomorrow if we all could stop laughing long enough to check our tire pressure. The US Energy Information Administration reported last year that new off-shore drilling might add 73 million barrels a year to our oil supplies, but that it would not have “a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.”

We disagree with Vice President Dick Cheney’s notorious observation: “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.” Even the oilman’s oilman, T. Boone Pickens, has converted to the cause of conservation through renewable energy, promoting wind power as a key component of our eventual national energy independence. If you want to be part of that new American independence, join the Town of Newtown and its Clean Energy Task Force by investing in clean renewable energy for your home. Learn how at gogreennewtown.com.