As an article in The Irish Times describes it, eco-bling is well-intended and expensive green technology that, once you crunch the numbers, doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. You know, like a costly solar-panel system that will pay for itself in 50 years but is likely to last only 20.

Liddell’s proposed antidote to eco-bling is a simple one: focus on efficiency rather than on bling. Insulate homes better. Seal leaky doors and windows. You know, plain and un-sexy conservation.

He’s got a good word for that, too: he calls it “Nega Watts.”