Yale and George Mason University researchers have published a survey of 2,164 adult Americans which suggests great enthusiasm for saving energy. Some interesting points:
- Roughly half of respondents said they had already made energy-saving improvements to their home
- 94% of respondents said they ‘always’ (63) or ‘often’ (31) turn off lights when not needed
- cost (43%) was cited as the main barrier to saving energy; ‘I don’t know how’ (20%) was second
- 47% said they could not afford a hybrid car; 45% said they did not need a new car (respondents could select more than one answer)
- Saving money is the main motivation (note that the surey was carried out during September and October when apprehension about the economy would have been firmly setting in)
However attitudes to what can be achieved by taking such measures will be of interest to policy-makers:
Interestingly, only 13 percent of respondents think that they can reduce their own contribution to global warming “a great deal.” By contrast, 42 percent say that if most people in the United States took these actions, it would reduce global warming a great deal. Finally, 60 percent say global warming could be reduced a great deal if most people in modern industrialized countries
took these actions.
Read the news release and the full report.
