Energy Minister Terry Lister and his team at the Department of Energy deserve enormous credit for the Green Paper on energy that was tabled last week in the House of Assembly.

As a discussion paper, it is almost a model of its kind, laying out the issues facing the Island clearly and comprehensively and then outlining the possible solutions objectively and sensibly.

Few people today will dispute that the world is facing an energy crisis, and Bermuda is not excluded – indeed, it may be at more risk than most other countries.

As the Paper says, Bermuda is highly dependent on imported oil for electricity generation and transport. This poses economic and security threats in the event that supplies either become vastly more expensive or are cut off, either because they have been exhausted or for other reasons.

At the same time, the massive increase in fossil fuel use in the last 50 years has led to increased carbon emissions around the world which are being blamed for exacerbating climate change and accelerating the melting of the polar ice caps.

The threat to Bermuda here is from sea level increases, which would swamp the Island if they continued.

Bermuda in gross terms is a minor contributor to carbon emissions, but is one of the worst offenders globally on a per capita basis. That is and should be a national shame.

The good news is that it is reasonably easy to reverse. As the Green Paper says: "Our unique geography lends itself well to adopting alternatives for transportation and the electric utility has an exceptional record in demand management. Diversifying the types of energy we use will create conditions for further economic growth, new high skilled jobs, greater energy security and a much improved environment."

It is fashionable to place much of the blame for high electricity costs and emissions at the feet of the Bermuda Electric Light Company, but the Green Paper in fact does offer praise to the utility on a number of counts, including: "The electric utility's consumption of imported oil has remained level due to efficiency improvements, whilst overall consumption has increased, largely due to transportation fuel use, which has almost doubled (in the last decade)."

In other words, don't blame Belco. We are to blame, both through our preference for gas-guzzling SUVs, and because of our carelessness when it comes to energy use.

Indeed, Bermuda could do an enormous amount to cut its fuel use simply by being smarter about how it uses electricity. A well designed publicity campaigns, pointing out the economic sense of conservation would go a long way to achieving lower fuel use.

At the same time, the Green Paper outlines a range of tax and fee incentives that would make the use of more fuel efficient vehicles and alternative energies much more appealing to consumers and businesses.

These, combined with stricter and greener building regulations, would make Bermuda much more efficient and cleaner.

The Green Paper also deals with the question of putting energy from alternative energy back into the grid; this has been the most controversial and complicated part of the equation to date, because the supply needs to be priced and it needs to be consistent.

This is where some form of Government regulation is especially needed; the trick is to make it fair, transparent and as bureaucratic as possible.

There are other interesting ideas too, including one for charging different amounts for energy depending on whether it is being used in peak hours and seasons.

The next step now is for Parliament and the public to debate the Green Paper. It will be followed, presumably, by a White Paper setting out Government policy and any and all legislation that is needed.

Not all of this needs to wait for the sometimes tortuous parliamentary process.

Finance Minister Paula Cox lowered some Customs duties for alternative energy in the Budget and an awareness campaign for electricity conservation would be easy to do now.

The fact is that Bermuda cannot afford to wait – it needs to take up the useful ideas contained in the Green Paper now.