In the US, individual consumption choices will be a key determinant for improving energy sustainability and decreasing carbon emissions. While increasing the cost of energy does lead to reductions in energy consumption, this is a blunt weapon that causes hardship and disruption in the broader economy. Therefore non-economic mechanisms for encouraging sustainability must be developed. This paper will describe efforts to develop undergraduate curricula materials in support of Energy Literacy, defined as conceptual fluency with the economic and social components of energy use. The intention of this research is that an increase in Energy Literacy will result in more sustainable energy practices. These Energy Literacy materials have been developed and piloted over a two year period, and were included as coursework for five undergraduate sections. Students completed a pre- and post-course survey with questions regarding their sustainability attitudes and behaviors, based on the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) and Environmentally Responsible Behavior (ERB). An analysis of student comments, responses, and survey results suggests that discussions of sustainability with disaster themes can trigger anxiety and emotional withdrawal that is counterproductive and interferes with the development of ERB. In contrast, materials that emphasize the pragmatic necessity and benefits derived from sustainability are related to improvements in ERB. The implications of these findings are that mechanisms to mitigate anxiety aroused by sustainability themes need to be found, and that future sustainability curricula emphasize pragmatic motivations for changing energy consumption patterns.