Abstract
Individuals must have a quantitative understanding of the carbon footprint tied to their everyday decisions to make efficient sustainable decisions. We report research of the innumeracy of individuals as it relates to their carbon footprint. In three studies that varied in terms of scale and sample, respondents estimate the quantity of CO2 released when combusting a gallon of gasoline in comparison to several well-known metrics including food calories and travel distance. Consistently, respondents estimated the quantity of CO2 from gasoline compared to other metrics with significantly less accuracy while exhibiting a tendency to underestimate CO2. Such relative absence of carbon numeracy of even a basic consumption habit may limit the effectiveness of environmental policies and campaigns aimed at changing individual behavior. We discuss several caveats as well as opportunities for policy design that could aid the improvement of people’s quantitative understanding of their carbon footprint.
Highlights
While political action is already underway in multiple countries in response to urgent calls for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions such as the widely discussed carbon footprint [1,2,3] recent political developments in the U.S.[4] create significant uncertainty regarding policies to combat climate change
As 58% of Americans worry about climate change [5] and since consumers and households significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, it is becoming even more important that part of the burden be carried at the individual level [6,7]
Results show that on Carbon innumeracy average respondents consistently estimate the amount of CO2 from one gallon of standard gasoline significantly less accurately than they are able to estimate the number of calories in a gallon of whole milk, the travel distance from Los Angeles to New York City, or the weight of an average family car
Summary
While political action is already underway in multiple countries in response to urgent calls for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions such as the widely discussed carbon footprint [1,2,3] recent political developments in the U.S.[4] create significant uncertainty regarding policies to combat climate change. Individuals are not clear about the relative contribution to greenhouse gas emissions of their behavior [8]. Metrics such as carbon footprint remain unclear, intangible byproducts of day-to-day consumer activities, as well as activities that connect to the consumer through complex material and energy supply chains. Such metrics are largely irrelevant for personal decisions by many individuals. Familiar examples are food calories and ambient temperature, where people can interpret a quantitative signal
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