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Rethink your thermostat to lessen the need for fossil fuels.
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Do you know what form of electricity keeps the lights on in your house? What about where your car's gasoline comes from? Between the recent Gulf Coast oil spill and the recent disaster at a coal mine in West Virginia that killed 29 people, it might seem that the environmental and human costs of our energy consumption are taking a huge toll. But the results of a recent national poll suggest otherwise. Americans, it seems, aren't very connected to the sources of our energy, and many people feel that the risks associated with oil drilling and coal mining are necessary evils critical to the maintenance of a certain standard of living.
Has either the Gulf oil spill or the recent West Virginia coal mine disaster changed your use of gasoline or electricity?online surveys
THE DETAILS: The poll was conducted by the Shelton Group, an advertising agency that specializes in energy efficiency and green-product campaigns. The agency polled 1,312 people shortly after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico started to see whether it or the recent West Virginia coal mine disaster changed the way people thought about their personal energy consumption. The agency found that both disasters caused 42 percent of people to think about the "human and environmental costs" associated with their energy consumption, but far fewer, just 7 percent, admitted that the oil spill "was indirectly caused by my own gas and petroleum-based product consumption" (the poll did not ask similar questions about the mine disaster). While 50 percent of those polled said they didn't plan to change their driving behaviors in the wake of the oil spill, 20 percent said they planned to drive less and 14 percent said they planned to reduce their consumption of plastic products and products sold in plastic containers, which are made with oil. Finally, 36 percent of people agreed with the statement, "[the oil spill] was a terrible accident, but our country’s need for domestic oil makes the possibility of such accidents an acceptable risk," while 21 percent agreed that "it was an accident waiting to happen and offshore drilling should be halted."
WHAT IT MEANS: Most Americans feel pretty removed from our sources of energy, says Shelton Group president and CEO Suzanne Shelton, even amidst major incidents like the oil spill or the mine disaster. "Based on other surveys we've done, only about a third of the population knows that burning coal is the main way we get energy in this country," she says, "and less than 4 percent knows that coal-fired power plants are the leading cause of global warming. Most people think it's cars and trucks."
Furthermore, Shelton's surveys have found, although most people understand that gasoline powers our cars and trucks, and gasoline comes from oil, we're all too addicted to our personal vehicles to sacrifice them for the sake of the environment. What's more likely to get people fired up about oil spills, says Shelton, is how much of an impact it will have on family vacations. "Assuming all the beaches get covered in oil and people have to start canceling family vacations, then they're going to get fired up about oil spills," she says. "As Americans, we generally have this idea that if it impacts my life personally, then I'm concerned about it. But when it comes to impacting the world at large, we're not as worried."
Oil Spills and other disasters
I remember that there were many debattes in europe on how to react on such disasters as Oil Spills. Some german newspapers recomended to keep away from infected animals and recommended - mit den verschiedenen Öl Katastrophen is es ganz wichtig auch sich von infizierten tieren fernzuhalten. es wird deshalb auch empfohlen, dass sie zum beispiel in den nächsten jagdbekleidung shop gehen und sich dort nach entsprechender ausrüstung umschauen. wir können zwar nicht versprechen, dass diese jagd sachen die Situation verbessern, aber es könnte gute Effekte haben.
The newspaper recommended further that it is also a good idea to sent some money to people affected by such disasters. A recent event like japan has showed that such actions can help.
oil for cars
well probably we need oils in our cars and trucks but i think we need to change how our cars or trucks work like oil less engines for our ride like having the truck parts work even there is no oil
How environmental disasters affect us.
Your poll is generalizing commutes too much and therefore makes wrong assumptions. Working from home is not necessarily rewarding for the working individual.
Working from home instead of in the office means I have to increase the heating, even if it is only on circuit, use more electricity and cook for myself at home during the day, when I could have used shared space in my office instead and kept the house in a low setting. Working from home for the past year increased our heat and electricity bill.
As I did not use a car to commute to work, I do not save on gas. I save a little on commuter train costs but have to buy individual tickets instead of using discounted monthly tickets. Also with my freelance position which is considered a business, I have to pay an additional MTA tax for NY.
And of course I have to buy and pay for adequate equipment to be able to work efficiently.
We have made changes in the past years, bought thermostats for 3 circuits, energy savings lamps and insulated the house. We checked costs on solar panels or geotermal heating. The costs would not justify the savings as of now.
But did you know that the huge energy waste, water waste and pollution is caused by meat production? More than with any world transportation…
Conserving energy
Yes, I had to answer no, I haven't made changes, but, that is because we have made a lot of changes to conserve energy. I already unplug appliances when they are not in use and open the dishwasher door at the end of the cycle so that it will not complete the dry cycle.
Thanks for the poll. I think it does make people think before they use.
RE: Faulty Poll
I agreewith : Your poll is missing an item: "I have already cut way down because of past such events."
Although I am not as green as you are--I dont have the choice of working at home, my son has a garden, we keep the thermostat down and use blankets and clothes when cold. We save and recycle.
We have all the changes we can at this time but still had to anser as "No, I haven't made any changes" as with Jan above
Faulty poll
Your poll is missing an item: "I have already cut way down because of past such events."
We strive for a sustainable life. We work and home, grow our own food, and drive only a few days a week. Yet I had to truthfully answer the poll with, "No, I haven't made any changes," because the changes I've made are ongoing and unrelated to recent events.