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Are We Ready to Track Carbon Footprints?
NY Times ^ | March 25, 2008 | JOHN TIERNEY

Posted on 03/26/2008 9:41:22 PM PDT by neverdem

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.

But we also have peculiarities that could be useful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the right prompting, we’ll make sacrifices for the common good and perform acts of charity that we’d never do for any amount of pay. We’ll reform our behavior strikingly to conform with social norms. We’ll even make astute cost-benefit judgments if we get simple, clear feedback — that’s why cars come with idiot lights.

We need the right nudge, to borrow the title of the new book applying the lessons of social psychology and behavioral economics to everything from health care to climate maintenance. The authors of “Nudge,” Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, agree with economists who’d like to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by imposing carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade system, but they think people need extra guidance...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: agw; carbonfootprints; climatechange; globalwarming; gorebullwarming

1 posted on 03/26/2008 9:41:23 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: Defendingliberty; WL-law; Genesis defender; proud_yank; FrPR; enough_idiocy; rdl6989; Delacon; ...
 


Global Warming Scam News & Views
The Best Global Warming Videos on the Internet

2 posted on 03/26/2008 9:42:33 PM PDT by steelyourfaith
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To: neverdem

Some brains should have “idiot lights” too.....like LIBERALS!!!!!!!!!!


3 posted on 03/26/2008 9:43:07 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character; Being Coddled Destroys Character)
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To: xcamel; Tolerance Sucks Rocks; Delacon

ping


4 posted on 03/26/2008 9:44:23 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

5 posted on 03/26/2008 9:55:21 PM PDT by I'm ALL Right! (Dear RNC: Not one Conservative Candidate? Not one "RED" penny)
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To: neverdem
I’d like to see a new green fad for electronic jewelry with real-time displays of carbon footprints. These could be mood rings, bracelets, lapel pins or anything else that could change color depending on how much electricity you use, how much gasoline your car burns, how much you travel.

(How much you travel? Guilt-controlled leisure activity? Environmentally correct hobbies and pass-times?)
6 posted on 03/26/2008 9:59:26 PM PDT by flowerplough (Obama's pastor: "God Bless America? No, no, no, God damn America!")
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To: neverdem
We can’t even prepare properly for something as straightforward as our own retirement.

Where did I see this? Probably Readers Digest. Anyway, from memory:

You're out for a walk on a warm sunny afternoon when the air begins to cool and you decide to turn for home. Before you get there, the sky has turned dark, the swirling wind is stripping the remaining leaves from the trees, and you are pulling your coat to your chest against the chill. Retirement.

... I'm sure I didn't do it justice. It was quite poetic.

7 posted on 03/26/2008 10:01:17 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: flowerplough

They think we’re all children who can’t comprehend a utility bill, so we need the government to regulate our thermostats for us.


8 posted on 03/26/2008 10:08:33 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham ("The land of the Free...Because of the Brave")
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To: neverdem
I’d like to see a new green fad for electronic jewelry with real-time displays of carbon footprints. These could be mood rings, bracelets, lapel pins or anything else that could change color depending on how much electricity you use, how much gasoline your car burns, how much you travel.

Why not scarlet letters or yellow badges?? That way it would be easier for the new environmentally-minded "uber-citizen" to recognize and report those who aren't "in the right mindset" of global warming consciousness.

9 posted on 03/26/2008 10:17:29 PM PDT by Libertarian444
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To: steelyourfaith

later


10 posted on 03/26/2008 10:20:10 PM PDT by Red6 (Come and take it.)
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To: neverdem
NO
11 posted on 03/26/2008 10:55:07 PM PDT by wastedyears (The US Military is what goes Bump in the night.)
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To: neverdem

Mine’s an 11 1/2 D.


12 posted on 03/26/2008 11:00:42 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: wastedyears; All
In case you're wondering whether the author is serious or not, he also wrote Recycling Is Garbage.
13 posted on 03/26/2008 11:08:52 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: Libertarian444
“Why not scarlet letters or yellow badges??”

Yea, I think the liberals still have a stash of those “Yellow Stars” left over from the concentration camps during WW II; as true leftist, then, as always, they got carried away with planning and made too many!

14 posted on 03/26/2008 11:49:30 PM PDT by Herakles (Diversity is code word for anti-white racism)
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To: neverdem; Killing Time; Beowulf; Mr. Peabody; RW_Whacko; honolulugal; SideoutFred; Ole Okie; ...

Carbon Scam Ping - (POGW)

15 posted on 03/27/2008 3:25:26 AM PDT by xcamel (Forget the past and you're doomed to repeat it.)
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To: neverdem

We’ve got an absolutely idiotic situation here: probably a majority of people believe, based on a lousy accumulation of indicators—with plenty of contrary indicators—that we have a man-heating-the-planet-to-the-point-of-catastrophe scenario. Then, when it comes to doing something about it—instituting the kind of draconian measures that would affect climate if the first assumption were true—even larger majorities are opposed. This should be a huge plus for Republican candidates, if they can frame the question(s) properly!


16 posted on 03/27/2008 4:00:59 AM PDT by guitarist
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To: neverdem
The authors of “Nudge,” Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, agree with economists who’d like to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by imposing carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade system, but they think people need extra guidance...

Cass Sunstein is a liberals liberal who believes we all need extra guidance from people like him at the point of the government's guns.

17 posted on 03/27/2008 4:40:47 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: Red6

You;re in.


18 posted on 04/06/2008 9:10:11 PM PDT by steelyourfaith
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