You may think that we have America beat on environmental wellness, but the muscle car nation is more concerned about the planet’s wellbeing than you think. According to a new national survey Americans’ Actions to Limit Global Warming April 2013, over half of Americans consider the effects on the environment of products and services they buy.
Conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Centre on Climate Change Communication, the report noted, ‘Consumer behaviour has become an important way Americans express their values and concerns, leading to new products and services, creating and destroying markets, and influencing the policies and actions of companies large and small.’ 52% of the more than 1,000 adults surveyed said they “very consistently,” “often,” or “occasionally” weigh the environmental impact of their purchases.
The report also revealed that 28% of Americans have, in the past year, ‘rewarded companies taking steps to reduce global warming by buying their products,’ while one in five respondents said that have punished companies opposing efforts to reduce global warming by not purchasing their goods or services. According to Anne Kelly, director of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, a project of the corporate sustainability coalition, Ceres, this change in attitude over recent years is starting to make an impact, as more and more companies are paying attention to these kinds of considerations among consumers, and reacting by establishing better environmental practices.
Six in 10 of the survey participants reported that they intend to buy a more energy-efficient car when they next need to purchase one, wanting it to average 30 miles or more per gallon. Lead report author Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University commented, ‘Many Americans care about the environmental impact of their purchases and have already purchased an energy-efficient appliance or fuel-efficient car. There is a strong market for products that save energy.’
However, while report co-author Dr. Ed Maibach of George Mason University noted that many Americans ‘are also talking to their friends and family about companies they feel have poor environmental records,’ and nearly 40% of respondents ‘they would be willing to join a campaign to convince elected officials to do ‘the right thing’ about global warming,’ political activism on the environment is still not part of the average American’s agenda. The survey noted that, in the past year, 10% of Americans have “often” or “occasionally” signed a petition about global warming.
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