Global warming is caused mainly when carbon dioxide is released after fossil fuels like oil and coal are burned for energy. Thus when you save energy, it means you are also fighting global warming and also saving some money in the process. In order to do your part in tackling this menace, you can take the following steps. To begin with, what you should do is raise your voice. Make it clear to your elected officials that you want cleaner cars and cleaner power plants as some key solutions to global warming. Tell them that they will be held accountable for what they do, or fail to do about the issue of global warming.

It is well within your ability to choose an efficient car: When you decide to purchase your car, choose the least-polluting, most efficient car that fulfills your requirements. You should know that a car that gets 20 miles per gallon will emit about 50 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, while a car getting 40 mpg will emit half that quantity. Your efficient car may be a hybrid combining a gasoline engine with electric motors, or a wagon in place of an SUV. Given the average lifetime of an American car, a 40-mpg car will save about $3,000 in fuel costs compared with a 20-mpg car, so compare fuel economy performance before you make your purchase.

For increasing fuel efficiency, get your engine tuned up and keep your tires inflated. Did you know that if all Americans kept their tires properly inflated, gasoline use throughout the United States would come down 2 percent? A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon in the range of 4 to 40 percent; a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon. Another important way of fighting global warming is driving less and burning less fuel. Whenever possible, try to choose alternatives to driving (public transit, biking, walking, carpooling), and bundle your errands together so that you need to make fewer trips.

You can also help the cause against global warming by buying energy-efficient appliances. Even if you have to spend a little more up front, you can still save a lot on electricity, and simultaneously reduce pollution produced by power plants. Remember that refrigerators are the biggest consumers of electricity in the home. So if you upgrade it, you can save a lot of energy for your household. If you replace your light bulbs with a little costlier but more durable compact fluorescent bulbs, you cut down your electricity bill by nearly $15 a year, and by more than $60 during its life. What is important is that it also keeps half a ton of carbon dioxide out of the air. For a very small investment on your house, you can cut your heating and cooling expenses and reduce the burning of fossil fuels.

Opt for renewable energy by picking a company that generates at least half its power from wind, solar energy and other clean sources. Also purchase clean energy certificates. Another way to reduce global warming pollution is to buy “wind certificates” or “green tags,” which represent clean power you can add to the nation’s energy grid in place of electricity from fossil fuels.