a nudge to make us budge?

From John Tierney at the New York Times comes this intriguing piece on encouraging everyday folks to make greener decisions.

Are We Ready to Track Carbon Footprints?

Before I unveil my plan to combat global warming using mood rings and glowing lapel pins, let me explain the scientific rationale.

Everyone talks about the future weather, but so far nobody has done much about it, not even the many people and politicians convinced that climate change will be a serious problem. This situation comes as no surprise to the behavioral researchers who have been studying the human brain’s penchant for making dumb choices.

We can’t even prepare properly for something as straightforward as our own retirement. We’ll put in long hours shopping for a cellphone or a television set, but we’re too busy to agonize over pension plans: in one study, most people spent less than an hour choosing theirs. We’re not good at making immediate sacrifices for an abstract benefit in the future. And this weakness is compounded when, as with climate change, we have a hard time even understanding the problem or the impact of our actions today.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25tier.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

Viktor Koen