Earth Equity News

Carpooling is Effective, But Not Popular. By Jenny Mandell, ClimateWire, November 10, 2009. "We all know carpooling is good for the Earth. So highway departments build high-occupancy vehicle lanes and companies offer prime parking spaces for employees who share rides. But carpooling is unlikely to save the environment. It's too hard. So say scientists who have studied how people confront environmental and energy challenges. Carpooling, they say, has low 'plasticity' -- that is, people are unwilling to do it -- so its 'reasonably achievable emissions reductions' are low, as well... Mike Vandenbergh, director of Vanderbilt University's Climate Change Research Network. 'A real value is in looking not just at potential emissions reductions, but also at plasticity. Because otherwise, you'll be frustrated.' Carpooling, it turns out, is frustrating. Vandenbergh was part of a research team that examined 17 environment-saving behaviors, finding carpooling the second most effective in potential energy savings but dead last in potential consumer uptake. Their paper [PDF, 11 pp] was published last month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."