Low Hanging Fruit

I was just listening to another BP ad about energy production (alternative and otherwise), and it occurred to me what's missing: conservation. There is very little being said about conservation, which is where the 'low hanging fruit' is to be had. Every megawatt of electricity or barrel of oil saved through conservation is a windmill or solarpanel that doesn't need to be built or offshore oil well that doesn't need to be drilled.

And the nice thing is: conservation is something that we as individuals can do a lot about. We can buy much more fuel efficient cars, insulate our homes, buy energy efficient appliances, and on and on.

Why isn't this being encouraged and pushed much, much more at every level of government and society?