The most effective actions U.S. households can take to curb climate change

Environment

Volumn 50, Issue 5, 2008, Pages 12-25

  Gardner, Gerald T ^a   Stern, Paul C ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEARBORN   (United States)

^b NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 51349139960     PISSN: 00139157     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3200/ENVT.50.5.12-25     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. This article focuses exclusively on carbon dioxide ".. .because it is the dominant anthropogenic greenhouse gas," S. Pacala and R. Socolow, "Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies," Science 280, no. 5686 (13 August 2004): 968-72.
2. "Global Carbon Emissions, By Country," BBC News, 7 December 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi /in_depth/629/629/7133036.stm (accessed 5 May 2008).
3. S. Nadel, A. Shipley, and R. N. Elliot, "The Technical, Economic and Achievable Potential for Energy-Efficiency in the U.S. - A Meta-Analysis of Recent Studies," Proceedings of the 2004 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Pacific Grove, CA, 22-27 August 2004, http://www.aceee .org/conf/04ss/rnemeta.pdf (accessed 5 May 2008);
4. D. Pimentel et al., "US Energy Conservation and Efficiency: Benefits and Costs," Environment, Development and Sustainability 6, no. 3 (2004): 279-305;
5. and U.S. Greenhouse Gas Abatement Mapping Initiative, Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost? (Washington, DC: McKinsey & Company, 2007), http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf /US_ghg_final_report.pdf (accessed 4 May 2008).
6. P. C. Stern and G. T. Gardner, "Psychological Research and Energy Policy," American Psychologist 36, no. 4 (1981): 329-42;
7. G. T. Gardner and P. C. Stern, Environmental Problems and Human Behavior (Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1996), 253-76;
8. and G. T. Gardner and P. C. Stern, Environmental Problems and Human Behavior, 2nd Edition (Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002), 253-76.
9. Gardner and Stem (2002), note 4, pages 74-124.
10. P. Aldous, "Global Warming: The Buck Stops Here (Special Report)," New Scientist 194, no. 2609 (20 June 2007): 16-19; A. Leiserowitz, American Opinions on Global Warming: Summary (New Haven, CT: Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 2007). http://environment.yale.edu/news /Research/5310/american-opinions-on-global- warming -summary/ (accessed 20 June 2008);
11. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, A Deeper Partisan Divide Over Global Warming (Washington, DC: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2008). http://peoplc-press.Org/report/417/a-deeper- parlisan-divide-over-global-warming (accessed 20 June 2008);
12. F. Newport, Little Increase in Americans 'Global Warming Worries (Washington, DC: Gallup, 2008), http://www.gallup.com/poll/106660/Little- Increase-Americans-Global-Warming-worries.aspx (accessed 20 June 2008);
13. and P. Novelli, What Are Americans Thinking and Doing about Global Warming? Results of a National Household Survey (Fairfax, VA: Center of Excellence in Climate Change Communication Research, George-Mason University, 2008). including unpublished results from this survey, http://www.porternovelli. com/site/pdfs/PN_GMU_Climate_Change_Report.pdf (accessed 20 June 2008).
14. W. Kempton, C. Harris, J. Keith, and J. Weihl, "Do Consumers Know 'What Works' in Energy Conservation?" Marriage and Family Review 9, no. 1/2 (1985): 115-33.
15. Edward W. Maibach, professor, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University, personal communication, 23 June 2008.
16. A. Lewis, "Abroad and at Home: Paying for Reagan," New York Times, 5 October 1990. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res= 9C0CEEDB113BF936A35753CIA966958260 (accessed 12 July 2008).
17. D. Hickman, "Conservation Doesn't Enrich Cheney's Energy Friends," USA Today, 14 May 2001, http://www.usatoday.com/news/ opinion/columnists/wickham/2001-05-07-wickham.htm.
18. For a review, see Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, chapter 9.
19. C. Morton and G. Lean, "Live Earth: One Big Gesture for Humans, One Giant Problem for the Earth," The Independent (UK), 8 July 2007, http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/live-earth-one-big- gesture-for-man-one-giant-problem-for-the-earth-456414.html (accessed 2 March 2008).
20. D. de Rothschild, The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook (New York: Rodale Press, 2007).
21. "51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment: The Global Warming Survival Guide," Time, 9 April 2007, 69-100.
22. Two other examples are M. O'Neill, "84 Ways You Can Help the Planet" The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, 18 November 2007, 50;
23. and J. Javna, S. Javna, and J. Javna, 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth, Revised Edition (New York: Hyperion Books, 2008).
24. Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, chapters 3 and 10; and T. W. Valente and D. V. Schuster, "The Public Health Perspective for Communicating Environmental Issues," in T. Dietz and P. C. Stern, eds., New Tools for Environmental Protection: Education, Information and Voluntary Measures (Washington, DC: New Academic Press, 2002): 105-24.
25. Stern and Gardner, note 4; Gardner and Stern (1996), note 4, chapter 10; and Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, chapter 10.
26. Figures are preliminary for 2006. Derived from Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Annual Energy Review 2006. DOE/EIA-0384 (2006) (Washington, DC, 2007), http://www.eia.doc.gov/ aer/ (accessed 14 February 2008), see Tables 2.1b, 2.1c, 2.1f, and 3. Please see Environment's Web site, environmentmagazine.org. Additional Information on Table 1 of this article for additional sources.
27. U.S. government statistics and databases, including those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DOE, and Department of Transportation (DOT), almost always treat transportation energy consumption and greenhouse gas production in a single block and do not distinguish travel for household purposes from travel for business (industrial and commercial) purposes. Our strategy for statistically dividing transportation energy into individual/ household and nonindividual/household portions is described in a note to Table 1. U.S. Department of Labor, National Household Travel Survey 2001 (Database) (Washington, DC, 2007), http://nhts.ornl.gov/ (accessed 1 January 2008);
28. EIA, note 18;
29. EIA, DOE, Annual Energy Outlook 2007, DOE/EIA-0383 (2007) (Washington, DC, 2007), http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/, (accessed 15 February 2008);
30. and Bureau of Transportation Statistics, DOT, National Transportation Statistics 2007 (Washington, DC, 2007), http://www.bts.gov/publications/ national_transportation_ statistics, (accessed 12 February 2008).
31. Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, page 258.
32. Nadel, Shipley, Elliot, note 3; Pimentel et al., note 3; and U.S. Greenhouse Gas Abatement Mapping Initiative, note 3.
33. J. P. Padgett, A. C. Steinemann, J. H. Clarke, and M. P. Vandenbergh, "A Comparison of Carbon Calculators," Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008): 106-15.
34. Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, pages 74-124.
35. National Research Council (NRC), Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Behavioral Issues (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1985), http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10463.html (accessed 14 January 2008);
36. and P. C. Stem et al., "The Effectiveness of Incentives for Residential Energy Conservation," Evaluation Review 10(1986): 147-76.
37. P. C. Stern, J. S. Black, and J. T. Elworth, Home Energy Conservation: Programs and Strategies for the 1980s (Mount Vernon, NY: Institute for Consumer Policy Research, Consumers Union Foundation, 1981); NRC, note 24. chapter 3; and Stern et al., note 24.
38. NRC, note 24, chapter 3; D. I. Lerman and B. H. Bronfman, Process Evaluation of the Bonneville Power Administration Interim Residential Weatherization Program, ORNL/CON-158 (Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory); and Stern et al., note 24.
39. Gardner and Stern (2002), note 4, pages 125-74.