…..,,,,,,, 75% of Americans think climate change is a problem that needs fixing. And most of them claim they’re “willing to do absolutely anything necessary to stop this impending disaster”.
Their actions, however, tell a very different story. Are they embracing electric cars? Hardly. Fewer than 3% of all cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and light-duty vehicles in the US today run on anything but petrol or diesel. The use of hybrid cars has actually fallen since 2013. Are people rushing to share cars to work? No. In 1980, 64% of the Americans who commuted to work by car did so alone. Today, even after a massive PR campaign to get people out of their cars, 74% do. Efforts to encourage cycling have fared little better. In 1980, 0.05% of Americans biked to work. Now, a mighty 0.06% do.
Whatever Americans tell pollsters, the evidence suggests most of them aren’t too bothered about climate change. Perhaps that’s because they think there’s nothing we can do about it, or because they “understand that humans have been adapting successfully to slight changes in the climate forever”. Or perhaps they just don’t care. Either way, they’re not buying “the ceaseless end-of-days rhetoric from our politicians and media”. (David Harsanyi, The Federalist)
All we can do is to be good citizens. This means walking and using the car as little as possible; re-cycling; turning the lights and computers off when not using them, electing good people, reducing consumption of meat, and, in general, being aware of our individual impacts on the environment. I would like to think that global warming is a constant background concern in my own life, and that I do as much as I can. But I am very aware that I am in no position to preach to anyone! Probably, none of us are. How can we do better individually? Suggestions?
The modest actions you recommend are doable and I think people are at least tackling them, becoming more realistic.Still, it’s such an uphill fight–politically electing people willing to change the laws and economically challenging corporations of almost overwhelming power. Still, try we must.
Part of the reason why people don’t do more is because it is affordable not to. The most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is by imposing massive taxes: fuel taxes, carbon taxes, coal taxes etc… But the vast majority of Americans oppose paying these taxes, even if they are used to fund infrastructure repairs and upgrades. So nothing will be done. The Republicans will declare that the Democrats are waging a war on coal, and the poor people in coal mining areas will vote likewise, despite their interests being antithetical to the interests of the majority. Taxes force people to change their behaviour by making the status quo unaffordable. Although this arguably hits the suburban middle class the most, it is still necessary.