Momoko Price in his latest article in the Toronto Star analyzes why most of us aren't doing much about climate change. Lack of actions is caused by many reasons: people are programmed to want results right away; humans tend to want to respond by doing just one thing (e.g. changing bulbs), but, there is a silver lining: our susceptibility to peer pressure. By applying social norm we could not just change attitude but also solicit required actions.
It definitely makes sense. But, establishing social norms requires government actions. And governments even do something in this direction - e.g. on Jan. 24, U.S. President Barack Obama called for the installation of 40 million smart meters in American homes; the Ontario government has already promised to install smart meters in every house and small business by 2010.
However, here we have a classical double-standard problem. From one side, the government establishes a smart metering social norm and targets ambitious 2% reduction in energy consumption. From the other, it subsidizes oil&gas industry.
With such mixed messages I doubt that any kind of public campaigns will be able to cause any significant changes in our behavior.
To change our behavior clear and coherent messages from the government confirmed by appropriate financial incentives are required (e.g. revenue-neutral carbon tax).
No comments:
Post a Comment