Lots of people urge me to be optimistic. Awareness is growing. Education is spreading. When the American public understands what’s at stake with global warming, the national debt, and other dangers. Then we’ll do what’s needed.

Well no. Not according to a whole bunch of researchers.
  • “In one study, individuals who hold attitudes that are strongly supportive of energy conservation were found to be no more likely to conserve energy.”
  • “High school students who received a six-day workshop on creating awareness of environmental issues were found in a two-month follow-up to be no more likely to have engaged in pro-environmental actions.”
  • “Two large surveys of Swiss respondents found that environmental information, knowledge and awareness were poorly associated with environmental behavior.”
  • “Households who volunteered to participate in a ten-week study of water use received a state-of-the-art handbook on water efficiency. The handbook described wasteful water use, explained the relationship between water use and energy consumption, and detailed methods for conserving water in the home. It was found to have no impact upon consumption.”
  • “When some 500 people were interviewed and asked about personal responsibility for picking up litter, 94% acknowledged that individuals bore a responsibility for picking up litter. However, when leaving the interview only 2% picked up litter that had been “planted” by the researcher.”

Sounds like change-makers are going to have to do this the old-fashioned way: fear, greed or celebrity endorsements.