Originally Posted by mconlonx

You'll note I don't assume people are stupid, just making decisions based on looking at the world a different way than I (we?) do.

I don't know about you, but I get asked about what most see as outlier behavior -- bicycle commuting -- more than I ever preach about it. I'm not a preachy, proselytizing type; live and let live, you let me be and I'll do the same for you.

When asked, I will say that I pay nothing in gas, nothing in car repairs and bike repairs are cheaper by a zero at the end of the repair bill, that I pay nothing for auto insurance, registration, excise tax, that I get enough exercise to not need exercise equipment at home or a gym membership, that instead of having a heart attack in my early 40s like my dad and his dad before him, I get a clean bill of health whenever a Doctor (more like NP nowadays...) checks me out.

In the back of my mind, I know that I am doing my own personal part to make less impact on the Earth, but I also recognize it as a drop of water in an ocean, and only a small part of an overall lifestyle which would lead to minimal impact.

I've also spent time in politics. You very seldom get anywhere calling people out on their own reprehensible behavior; much easier to give them a cheaper, selfish, better option, especially when they end up thinking it was their idea in the first place.

Perhaps if we lived on planet Vulcan people wouldn't get hurt feelings based on message and lash out at the messenger. But we don't, for now we're stuck on earth, dealing with people, and for the most part, people suck. Very disinterested outside of a very small personal sphere. To effect immediate change you have to appeal to self-interest which ends at the tip of another person's nose.

Appealing to their wallet and health is a surer bet than appealing to a perhaps non-existent sense of environmental responsibility. Anything which starts, "First, we have to educate the public..." is doomed to failure.