"We haven't changed our prices lately," explained Antonio, the laundromat's owner, who spent four years in Cleveland and spoke American like Marlon Brando. A strip of masking tape posted the current price per spin-cycle-- 3 Euros (soap not included). But while inflation in Europe has washed away some profit from his coin-op, Antonio is more concerned about global trends.

Located a few blocks from the oldest university in Europe, the laundromat has no shortage of new clients, but business is increasingly tight. "My costs are out of control," Antonio remarked. The washing machines and dryers consume an enormous amount of energy, and the water bills are through the roof.

"It's hard to cut energy use when you're in a business like this." But strangely, Antonio was optimistic about one utility: water. An industrial water recycling unit, Antonio explained, would enable him to reuse the same water, curbing one excessive cost. But how much would a water-recycling unit set him back? "At least ten thousand Euros... but it would pay for itself in a few years, the way things are going." There would be environmental benefits, too, I noted, eliciting an indifferent shrug and smirk.

"Yeah, I guess so."

As I strolled through the autumn-hued streets of this meandering medieval town, I shopped for ways to cut costs in my unflattering student budget. Naturally, I took a closer look at energy-efficient lighting (my naphtha lamp is an unsustainable strategic option with the amount midnight oil I'll be burning on homework). Last year in America, I swapped-out my home's old-fashioned light bulbs for new-fangled spiral ones, reducing my total energy use by 15% and saving a hundred bucks. But at the mom & pop stores in Italy, the same light bulbs that had served me so well in America cost over ten Euros apiece! Mama mia! "But think about the environment," the good little angel on my shoulder whispered, urging my righteous capital investment. Yeah, I guess, so, I shrugged, then kept on walking.

Australia banned incandescent light bulbs in 2007. South Korea subsidizes light-bulb exchanges. Even Iraq has learned the value of reducing consumption through subsidizing energy efficient technologies. In the markets of Baghdad, state-of-the-art light bulbs imported from China sold for $1.50 each in 2007. So why is it that the Bolognese must go to Ikea -- the capitalist surrogate of Swedish progressivism -- to find a cheap, efficient light?

I know that mom & pop stores with high-priced light bulbs are vital to Italian heritage, but couldn't the governments who talk so much about energy security and economic woes give mom & pop a boost by subsidizing this mutually beneficial technology? Joe Biden championed this brilliant cause in America, but he hasn't won -- yet. I could lie to Antonio and tell him that investing in compact fluorescent light bulbs for his laundromat would save dolphins, prevent nuclear holocaust and bring back the Virgin Mary, but wake up and smell the salami, folks! When it comes to going green in Red Bologna, as it still is in many other places in the world, forget about fears of climate change and foreign oil addiction; the best reason is simple--

e l'economia, stupido!

Christopher Brownfield is a graduate student in the IR/International Policy program at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Bologna Center in Italy. A former nuclear submariner and Iraq veteran, he is the author of the upcoming book, My Nuclear Family: Growing up with Energy & Violence (Knopf, 2009). He also contributes to The Daily Beast while studying International Energy Policy and Finance at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.