FYI. This came across another list I'm on, and I thought it would be of interest. The website has lots of additional information.
Apologies for cross-postings. Cheers, Rich From: sswg-boun...@list.conbio.org [mailto:sswg-boun...@list.conbio.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Dietz Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 11:10 AM To: s...@list.conbio.org Subject: [SSWG] Behavioral wedge paper A new paper may be of interest to some in the group: Thomas Dietz, Gerald T. Gardner, Jonathan Gilligan, Paul C. Stern, and Michael P. Vandenbergh. 2009. Household actions can provide a behavioral wedge to rapidly reduce U.S. carbon emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(44): 18452-18456 Abstract: Most climate change policy attention has been addressed to long-term options, such as inducing new, low-carbon energy technologies and creating cap-and-trade regimes for emissions. We use a behavioral approach to examine the reasonably achievable potential for near-term reductions by altered adoption and use of available technologies in U.S. homes and nonbusiness travel. We estimate the plasticity of 17 household action types in 5 behaviorally distinct categories by use of data on the most effective documented interventions that do not involve new regulatory measures. These interventions vary by type of action and typically combine several policy tools and strong social marketing. National implementation could save an estimated 123 million metric tons of carbon per year in year 10, which is 20% of household direct emissions or 7.4% of U.S. national emissions, with little or no reduction in household well-being. The potential of household action deserves increased policy attention. Future analyses of this potential should incorporate behavioral as well as economic and engineering elements. It's available at behavioralwedge.msu.edu Best, Tom -- Thomas Dietz Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science and Policy Assistant Vice President for Environmental Research Michigan State University environment.msu.edu
