Jun 23 2009

From Our Cold, Dead Hands

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

Scene: It's 2025. The recent collapse of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has raised sea levels two meters. Major sections of San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City are now underwater and the public is panicking.

On the Washington Mall, under the hot sun, a fiery orater from Greenpeace tells assembled demonstrators that America must change its way of life or lead the world to ruin. He calls on the Menendez administration to support a ban on popular wall-sized TVs and other power-hungry home electronics.

On the steps of the Capitol, a crowd of counterdemonstrators jeer him. Their leader walks to the podium and hoists aloft his iPhone (version 20.0, with its new Telepathic OS™).

"You can have my iPhone when you pry it from my cold, dead hands," he shouts, as the crowd roars its approval.

That nightmare crossed my mind today upon reading the results of a new national survey of consumers. When asked whether they would be willing to do without certain products that harmed the environment, most people said, in effect, fuggedaboudit.

More precisely, only 38 percent said they would give up their iPod if they learned that it harmed the environment. Just over a third could live without a dishwasher. Only a quarter would part with their microwave, and only a fifth with their cell phone.

Civil war would erupt if anyone tried to turn off their air conditioner--only 14 percent of consumers would consider that sacrifice. The same for televisions--13 percent.

Most addictive of all were computers (7 percent willing to forego) and cars (6 percent).

If American attitudes are any indication, trying to convince residents of China and India to do without cars may be a lost cause.

Said Suzanne Shelton, whose Knoxville advertising firm conducted the survey, "Consumers don`t want to give up the modern conveniences of life. We`re all basically saying, `I`ll be green as long it doesn`t make me uncomfortable or inconvenienced.'"

Will we be uncomfortable enough when our cities are two feet under water?

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