Layers of Denial

An interesting article, copied below from Reuters, on energy in the UK and consumers' attitudes towards cost and consumption.

It seems that even when convinced of the existance of climate change and agreeing that we each need to play a part in addressing the problem, we find it hard to face up to the realities of taking action.

It's just another form of denial. But no amount of ignoring this (global warming) problem will make it go away. The sooner we accept that, the better.

It will take very brave governments and leaders to implement unpopular measures in the face of an objecting public, but such leadership is needed since we seem incapable of motivating ourselves.

Time will tell whether the UK government matches its rhetoric with action - let's hope so.

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British Renewables Push Will Boost Energy Bills

UK: July 1, 2008

LONDON - Meeting Britain's renewable energy targets will add significantly to domestic energy bills on top of already steeply rising fuel prices, a report said on Monday.

The report from tax advisory company Ernst & Young comes days after the government called for a 100 billion pound green revolution to get 15 percent of its energy -- equivalent to 40 percent of its electricity -- from renewables by 2020.

Britain currently gets barely four percent of its electricity from renewables, primarily wind power.

The report said the drive to carbon cutting renewables would add 20 percent in real terms to domestic energy bills by 2020, equivalent to 5.3 billion pounds or just over 200 pounds per household, on top of increases due to booming fuel costs.

But a YouGov survey conducted to coincide with the report also noted that most Britons baulked at the prospect of having to pay to combat climate change.

The survey found that 67 percent of people said they would not be prepared to pay anything extra on their home energy bills to fight global warming.

"Customers face a triple whammy -- rising fuel and oil prices, the costs of climate change mitigation, and on top of both, the additional investment required to become more energy efficient," said Ernst & Young's Simon Harvey.

"However, the average consumer does not appear to realise that this additional cost is going to hit their wallets."

Confusingly the survey also found that while two-thirds of people said they were responsible for cutting their own carbon emissions a majority said a rise of 200 pounds in their fuel bills would not make them cut consumption.

"The challenge for government and the utilities companies is convincing the average UK consumer of the benefits of reducing energy consumption," said Harvey. "Convincing them to undertake the series of measures that will be required to tackle climate change will require multiple changes in behaviour."

Reporting by Jeremy Lovell; editing by Matt Falloon
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Male attitudes could be slowing IT sustainability drive

An interesting article forwarded to me by Tim Wallace of ecoLogic today . . .

An IBM survey in New Zealand found that:

"more females tended to believe in sustainability than males, and therefore, with the assumption that IT managers are predominantly male, the less enthusiastic approach to sustainability is not necessarily the characteristics of IT managers as much as it is the characteristics of them being male."

The full story here.

Affluenza and Sustainability

An interesting and critical aspect of environmental sustainability is human behaviour. There are many aspects to this. One is the impact of affluenza.

I don't intend to go into the topic in any great detail, maybe just to whet your appetite. There is a great book on the Australian condition Affluenza - when too much is never enough by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss. Clive has written some great books like Growth Fetish and Scorcher on issues facing modern societies. There is more on the topic on YouTube in the form of documentaries.

In the book, affluenza is defined as:

1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses.
2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the Australian dream.
3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
   

Affluenza is brought on by a society which places undue emphasis on consumption. The book argues that, for some time now, people have been buying more and more 'stuff' in an effort to feel better about themselves and to demonstrate their status. That increasingly effective marketing and advertising has engendered this behaviour.

So, how is this linked to sustainability? In simple terms, the more stuff we buy, the more resources and energy are consumed in their manufacture and distribution, the more ends up in storage and ultimately landfill. Conspicuous consumption leads to increased impact on our environment throughout the entire life-cycle of the goods. Whether it is resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions or waste disposal.

It stands to reason that increased consumption leads to increased impact and less sustainability.

Many people, perhaps the majority, instinctively feel that the excesses of our consumer society are leading us in the wrong direction. As yet, not many are acting on this instinct, instead they continue to follow the norms and consume. But some are responding by opting out as post materialists, living simply or by downshifting.

It is likely that our future (or at least one which is 'sustainable', by any definition of that word) will require us all to become post materialists and change the way we think about ourselves and our connection with the world around us.

Green Subdivisions

Copied today from the API Newsletter.

See the highlighted part for reiteration of a common issue in our journey towards environmental sustainability . . . its hard to make the changes required.

Few pay heed to ‘green’ subdivisions

Fewer than one in five buyers of new homes regards environmentally friendly subdivisions as an important factor in choosing where to live, according to a study conducted by Connection Research.

Nearly one-third of new homebuyers have never even heard of ‘green’ subdivisions and another third have heard the term but don’t know what it means, Connection Research’s The Sustainable New Home survey of 7000 households around Australia reveals.

Those respondents planning to buy or build a new home – nearly 20 per cent of the total – were asked a series of questions about the importance of various technologies and how much they’d be prepared to pay for them.

“People want to be green,” says report co-author Graeme Philipson. “They express a strong abstract desire to live sustainable lives. But when it comes to practicalities – and paying for them – these desires aren’t always translated into action.”

On the other hand, the report finds large numbers of respondents are willing to spend $5000 to $10,000 or more to add certain features to their new home. The most favoured features are solar water heating, rainwater tanks, better insulation, higher quality building materials and solar electricity.

Other key findings of the report include:

• About 60 per cent of respondents have no interest in home automation technologies, although wealthier households are much more likely to want it.
• More than 90 per cent of people say good thermal insulation is important.
• Some 80 to 90 per cent of respondents who lived in inland areas expressed a desire to move towards the coast or to a town or city suburbs.