People who claim to worry about climate change use more electricity than those
who do not, a Government study has found.
Those who say they are concerned about the prospect of climate change consume
more energy than those who say it is “too far into the future to worry
about,” the study commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate
Change found.
That is in part due to age, as people over 65 are more frugal with electricity
but much less concerned about global warming.
However, even when pensioners are discounted, there is only a “weak trend” to
show that people who profess to care about climate change do much to cut
their energy use.
The findings were based on the Household Electricity Survey, which closely
monitored the electricity use and views of 250 families over a year. The report,
by experts from Loughborough University and Cambridge Architectural
Research, was commissioned and published by DECC.
Those surveyed were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement: “The
effects of climate change are too far in the future to really worry me.”
The researchers wrote: “Taken all together, householders who strongly agreed they were not worried about climate change because it was too far in the future in fact used less electricity rather than more, counter to the hypothesis that households concerned about climate change use less electricity. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/10965887/People-who-claim-to-worry-about-climate-change-use-more-electricity.html
