Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in March 2012

A March 2012 survey of 1,008 American adults found that while 56% attempted to reduce family energy consumption in the past year, specific conservation behaviors like setting thermostats to 68°F or using public transport declined since November 2011. Consumer activism remains a significant trend, with 52% intending to reward or punish companies based on their global warming-related behaviors over the next 12 months. However, engagement in citizen behaviors—such as donating to climate organizations or contacting government officials—remains low, with 80% never donating and 87% never contacting officials in the past year.

• A majority of Americans (56 percent) reported attempting to reduce their family's energy consumption within the past year.
• Specific energy-saving and transportation behaviors showed a decline between November 2011 and March 2012: only 43% of Americans often or always set winter thermostats to 68 degrees or cooler (a 5-point drop), 21% sometimes, often or always use public transport or carpool (an 11-point drop), and 30% walk or bike instead of driving (a 5-point drop).
• Consumer activism is a notable method of engagement, with 33% of Americans rewarding climate-friendly companies with purchases in the past year, and 52% intending to either reward or boycott companies based on global warming behaviors in the coming 12 months.
• Direct citizen action is relatively low; 80% of respondents have never volunteered or donated to an organization working to reduce global warming, and 87% have never contacted a government official about the issue in the past year.
• Among the 11% of Americans who contacted government officials about global warming, 77% urged action to reduce it, while 19% urged officials not to take action.
• Public engagement with global warming information is mixed: while 28% of Americans increased their attention to news stories in the past year, more people decreased their activity in talking about global warming (27% less), searching for information online (35% less), and sharing information on social networks (41% less).

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Smith, N., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2012). Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in March 2012. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/March-2012-Americans-Actions-To-Conserve-Energy-Reduce-Waste-and-Limit-Global-Warming.pdf

Chicago

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf, Nicholas Smith, and Jay D. Hmielowski. Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in March 2012. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2012. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/March-2012-Americans-Actions-To-Conserve-Energy-Reduce-Waste-and-Limit-Global-Warming.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitz2012americans, author = {Leiserowitz, Anthony and Maibach, Edward and Roser-Renouf, Connie and Smith, Nicholas and Hmielowski, Jay D.}, title = {{Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming in March 2012}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2012}, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/March-2012-Americans-Actions-To-Conserve-Energy-Reduce-Waste-and-Limit-Global-Warming.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }