Behavior

• Author: Michael P. Vandenbergh and Paul C. Stern
• Pages: 87-110

Page 87

I. Introduction

is chapter asks: why does household behavior mat-

ter for deep decarbonization, and how can laws, policies,

and programs that target behavior change be employed

to facilit ate deca rbonization? Indiv iduals and household s

can aect c arbon emissions in multiple ways through their

behavior as environmental activists, by oering support or

opposition to environmental public policies in their citizen

roles, by exerting inuence within orga nizations of which

they are a part, by making investment decisions based on

carbon considerations, and by acquiring and using energy

and carbon-emitting goods and services or meeting t heir

needs in ways that do not emit greenhouse gases. Each of

these roles can be critical for achieving deep decarboniz a-

tion. Our primary, although not exclusive, focus is on the

roles of indiv iduals and household s as consumers, bot h of

energy and of goods and serv ices that have carbon foot-

prints through their life cycles.1

e chapter explores the implications of insights about

behaviors a ecting indiv idual a nd household energy use,

particularly from the noneconomic social and behavioral

sciences,2 for legal and policy interventions intended to

achieve the goal of the Deep Deca rbonization Pathways

Project (DDPP)—the reduction of net U.S. greenhouse gas

1. See Paul C. Stern, Toward a Coherent eory of Environmentally Signicant

Behavior, 56 J. S. I 407, 407-24 (2000); Michael P. Vandenbergh &

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Individual Behaviour, the Social Sciences, and Climate

Change, in C C L, E E  E

L 92 (Daniel Farber & Marjan Peeters eds., Edward Elgar Pub. 2016);

omas Dietz et al., Household Action Can Provide a Behavioral Wedge to

Rapidly Reduce US Carbon Emissions, 106 P. N’ A. S. 1842,

1842-45 (2009).

2. Consumers are inuenced by the prices of the goods and services they may

acquire, but these are not the only important inuences, nor do consumers

process price information in quite the ways simple economic analyses might

expect. N R C, E U: T H D

(Paul C. Stern & Elliot Aronson eds., 1984); N R C,

I E D A (Paul C. Stern ed., 1984). See also

R H. T  C R. S, N (2d ed. 2009).

Chapter 3

Behavior

by Michael P. Vandenbergh and Paul C. Stern

Summary

is chapter asks why household behavior matters for deep decarbonization, and how laws, policies, and pro-

grams that target behavior change can be employed to facilitate decarbonization. e pathways set forth in the

Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) reports all presume widespread public acceptance of new poli-

cies, as well as changes in household actions that directly aect carbon emissions, mainly via consumer adoption

of technologies that have lower greenhouse gas footprints. While none of the DDPP pathways relies on explicit

behavior change interventions to achieve emissions reductions, behavior change remains central to the project:

the demand for energy services and uptake and use of technologies that reduce carbon emissions, particularly

in the domains of energy eciency and renewable energy, require massive amounts of behavior change between

now and 2050. Because factors aecting individual and household behavior dier per behavioral type, interven-

tions need to be tailored to specic behaviors. It is also important to recognize that public and private initiatives

both play a role in driving the kinds of behavior change necessary to achieve deep decarbonization. e best

available research indicates that achieving the rates of adoption included in the DDPP pathways is indeed feasi-

ble; however, this will require more than policies that require change or make adoption nancially attrac tive. e

most realistic analysis of the potential for change must consider the technical potential for change, the behavioral

plasticity, and the policy plasticity (or feasibility) of adopting and implementing the best-known interventions.

Page 88 Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States

emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.3 We

examine the role that such behavior plays (explicitly and

implicitly) in the four DDPP pathways, and we explore

additional opportunities for behavioral interventions to

contribute to achieving deep decarbonization.

We should be clear at the outset about what we include

in the category of “behaviors a ecting individual and

household energ y use.” In short, we inc lude both the adop-

tion or uptak e of household technologies and equipment,

and the use and ma intenance of technolog ies and equip-

ment, in ways that aect emissions of greenhouse gases.

As elaborated elsewhere,4 seven specic classes of house-

hold behavior can aect carbon emissions. Some of these

involve changes in the use of household equipment that

reduce energy consumption by reducing energy services —

what is often called energ y conservation but is more appro-

priately called curtailment.5

ese include changing dai ly behaviors regarding heat-

ing and cooling levels, appliance a nd motor vehicle use, and

so on (“D”), and adjusting the water temperature in home

equipment (“A”). Others reduce consumption without cur-

tailing energy ser vices, through better equipment mainte-

nance (“M”); adoption of home weatherization and more

ecient heating and cooling equipment (“W”); shifting to

more energy-e cient motor vehic les and major household

equipment other than space conditioning (“E”); and adopt-

ing renewa ble energy technologie s for the hous ehold (“R”).

Households can also, given appropriate information, make

choices that reduce the life-cycle emissions (“L”) embodied

in the goods and services they purchase. Unless other wise

noted, when we refer to “behavior,” we mean individual a nd

household behavior of the above types.

e factors a ecting indi vidual and household behavior

dier per behavioral ty pe, as noted below. Also, the oppor-

tunities for behavior change var y with time scales. On an

immediate time scale, changes in usage of ex isting equip-

ment (D and A) may oer the most eective steps toward

3. J H. W  ., P  D D  

U S, U.S. 2050 R, V 2: P I 

D D   U S (Deep Decarbonization

Pathways Project & Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., 2015), avail-

able at http://usddpp.org/downloads/2015-report-on-policy-implications.pdf

[hereinafter DDPP P R]; J H. W  ., P

 D D   U S, U.S. 2050 R,

V 1: T R (Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project &

Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., 2015), available at http://usddpp.

org/downloads/2014-technical-report.pdf [hereinafter DDPP T

R]. See also Alexander E. MacDonald et al., Future Cost-Competitive

Electricity Systems and eir Impact on US CO2 Emissions, 6 Nature Climate

Change 526, 526-31 (2016), abstract available at http://www.nature.com/

nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2921.html#close.

4. Dietz et al., supra note 1; Kimberly S. Wolske & Paul C. Stern, Contri-

butions of Psychology to Limiting Climate Change: Opportunities Through

Consumer Behavior, in P  C C: H

P, I,  R (Susan Clayton & Christie

Manning eds., 2018).

5. Paul C. Stern & Gerald T. Gardner, Psychological Research and Energy Policy,

36 A. P 329, 329-42 (1981).

deep decarbonization. Over a decade or t wo, adoption and

use of lower emission equipment and acceptance of new

technologies and energy policies and programs c an often

make the greatest dierence. On the time scale of a gen-

eration or more, changes in lifestyles, social organization,

built infrastructure, and public acceptance of major policy

directions may be critical to achieving deep decarbon-

ization goals.6 Our focu s is on individual a nd household

behavior, but many social and behavioral science insights

are also important for understanding the behavior of cor-

porations, small businesses, government agencies, and

other organizations at these time scales.

Although the DDPP focuses on the emissions reduction

target for 2050, the carbon emissions pathway between

now and 2050 will have an important eect on the ability

to limit temperature increases to 2oC over pre-industrial

levels, the ultimate goal of deep deca rbonization. If U.S.

emissions are higher than expected between now and

2050, an 80% reduction in 2050 will be inadequate; if

they are lower than expected, there may be some play in

the timing or magnitude of the 2050 goal.7 As a result, we

also examine the role of near-term behavior change in the

DDPP modeling and how additional near-term behavior

change can acc elerate emissions reductions.

It is important to recognize that governments are not

the only organizations that c an drive the kinds of behavior

change necessar y to achieve deep decarbonization. Pub-

lic and private initiatives have played important roles in

energy behavior change in recent decades, and here we

examine the potential roles of both public and private gov-

ernance in achieving t he behavior changes that can con-

tribute to deep decarbonization. By private governance,

we mean the performance of traditionally governmental

functions (e.g., reducing negative externalities, promot-

ing creation or management of public goods) by private

organizations.8 Private governance occurs through many

of the same instruments as public governance, includ-

ing prescriptive rules, market-leveraging approaches, and

informational governance.9

6. See Paul C. Stern et al., Opportunities and Insights for Reducing Fossil Fuel

Consumption by Households and Organizations, 1 N E (2016),

abstract available at https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy201643.

7. In other words, the shape of the emissions curve over the next several de-

cades matters. It is only with reductions that begin in the near term that an

80% emissions reduction will suce, and even then, emissions will need

to be negative within the several decades after 2050 if 2°C is the goal. For

a discussion of the mitigation eorts necessary to achieve the 2°C goal, see

M P. V  J G, B P: T

P G R  C C ch.2 (2017).

8. In the past several decades, successful climate and energy behavior change

initiatives have been undertaken by governments at all levels, but also by

corporations, advocacy and civic groups, religious organizations, universi-

ties, hospitals, and other private organizations. See Michael P. Vandenbergh,

Private Environmental Governance, 99 C L. R. 129 (2013).

9. See Sarah E. Light & Eric W. Orts, Parallels in Public and Private Environ-

mental Governance, 5 M. J. E.  A. L. 1 (2015).