  It is shown that if a generalized definition of gauge invariance is used,
gauge invariant effective stress-energy tensors for gravitational waves and
other gravitational perturbations can be defined in a much larger variety of
circumstances than has previously been possible. In particular it is no longer
necessary to average the stress-energy tensor over a region of spacetime which
is larger in scale than the wavelengths of the waves and it is no longer
necessary to restrict attention to high frequency gravitational waves.
