We recently wrote about the carbon “toeprint” involved in airport travel: that is, all the little things that are often overlooked — like fuel guzzling shuttle buses or travelers driving solo to the airport – that can all add up to leave a substantial footprint before you even board the plane.

This week we’re happy to report that Denver International Airport is about to unveil a new green parking lot, Canopy Airport Parking, that will derive power from solar panels, wind turbines, and a geothermal heat pump. The 4,200 car parking lot will also offer free plug-ins for electric and hybrid vehicles and shuttle vans to the airport will run on compressed natural gas, or hybrid battery technology. The parking lot’s operator is claiming the new Canopy structure is the world’s greenest parking lot.

It is a claim that may be hard to verify, but also difficult to dispute. As we noted in our earlier post, we too often overlook all the little things we can do to conserve energy, even as we focus on the big picture. The lesson of Denver’s new airport parking lot is that today, even after years of focus on conservation, there remains a lot of low hanging fruit where new technology can be incorporated and savings can be found. And what better site is there than a parking lot to showcase the multitude of technologies now available to create light, heat and ground transportation with renewable power?

This winter, many seniors who have the means to do so will head south to Florida and other warm locales where they will soak up the sun and wait out all the more unpleasant aspects of the northern winter: the cold, the ice, and the mounds of snow.

Those who stay behind will have not just inclement weather to worry about but also the rising costs of staying warm. Few groups are as vulnerable to high and unpredictable fuel prices as seniors living on fixed incomes. CEA has previously highlighted the plight of seniors struggling to afford basic essentials such as air conditioning and heat. This autumn, as most of us are feeling that familiar chill in the air, there are reasons for elevated concern. You may have read that, for the second straight year, seniors will get no cost of living adjustment in their Social Security payments, a determination based on low inflation. Yet while it’s true that costs of housing and many other consumer goods have not risen in recent years, fuel costs are as volatile as ever. The early word this season is that it’s going to cost considerably more to heat a home this winter. Prices may be flat across the board, but some necessities, like utilities, are getting more expensive.

It is often hard to connect global trade policy with individual lives, but with the squeeze so many seniors feel each winter, we have a perfect – if disturbing – example of how policy affects people. And, while there have been all sorts of changes in the energy industry in recent years, from new oil and gas discoveries to advances in solar and wind power, we find ourselves here in the year 2010 still importing far too much of our fuel from overseas, and as a result, grappling with a lack of energy security and energy price stability that has eluded us for decades.

As the seniors faced with the tough decisions whether to buy groceries or heat their homes remind us, this is not just a theoretical problem.

The Obama Administration has announced it will lift the moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico – about six weeks before it was due to expire next month. This move ends another key chapter in the tragic Deepwater Horizon saga and is also an important first step in restoring economic vitality to the Gulf region.

CEA would first of all like to thank all of our members and supporters for their help in making the case to lawmakers that the moratorium was unduly onerous and could cause lasting economic damage. For months, CEA has shined a spotlight on jobs, and the value that jobs in the energy sector provide to many local economies. What we are hearing today is that it was a concern about lost jobs that lead the Obama Administration to agree to an early end to the moratorium.

And now, since we continue to care more about sound results than symbolic gestures, we ask your continued support in watching what happens next and ensuring that drilling is indeed allowed to proceed under reasonable terms.

No one will soon forget last spring’s explosion: An oil industry that wants to continue to drill in the Gulf must be prepared to accept regulations that will keep their operations safe. What we need to avoid are regulations that are so onerous, or a permitting approval process so weighed down by red tape and delays, that they serve as a de facto ban even after the formal ban is lifted.

While the deep water moratorium was in place, there were widespread reports that it became quite difficult to obtain permits for shallow water drilling as well. Now that the moratorium has been lifted, a similar practice of failing to approve permits on a timely manner could severely limit drilling activity, costing the region more jobs.

As Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal noted Tuesday in response to news of the moratorium being lifted, The devil is always in the details. It will behoove us all to watch those details closely to make sure the Obama Administration makes good on its word.

This week, CEA takes a step back from the various issues that concern us each day, to celebrate energy – in all its forms – and remind consumers, lawmakers and producers all over the country of the importance of standing together, to promote the policies that sustain us all.

CEA is proud to be the host of this year’s Energy Day, an event that promotes energy in all of its forms and celebrates the fundamental role that it serves in our lives. Energy is everywhere. While we debate the best practices for producing shale gas, we do so in buildings supplied with light and heat. When we go online to read about the newest wind power projects all around the country, we are again tapping into a vast network that runs on electricity. Virtually all of us use energy in our homes, our work places and to move from one place to another.

We are all free to choose how we consume and how we conserve our power, but we are all consumers to a greater or lesser extent. And while there is great value in engaging in debate over where we drill for oil, and which renewable sources we invest in, we should not lose sight of the reality that energy makes modern life possible. When that energy is produced here at home, it makes our country stronger and more secure. Only by recognizing that reality will we be able to move toward the best practices for producing it and conserving it.

This year’s Energy Day, which will be held on October 12 in Washington, DC, marks an especially momentous year for the energy industry, which saw the tragic accident in the Gulf, a persistent economic downturn, and increased commitment to sources of sustainable power. Today, the energy industry is grappling with the best ways to allow production in our oil and gas-rich regions in a manner that is both safe and economically feasible. It is working to preserve — and hopefully create – the sort of well-paying jobs that have too often moved overseas. And it is increasingly incorporating energy generated from the sun, the wind, geothermal springs and other less developed sources of alternative power. It will take all of these efforts and more to sustain and strengthen our domestic power sector.

Visit our Energy Day Web site to learn more about the event and the long list of members, from farmers to truckers, manufacturing groups and homebuilders groups who are participating. By understanding the need for secure sources of energy that we all share, we are better able to agree on policies that will serve us.