Conservatives prefer wasting energy over protecting the environment, study finds

[Chloe]

"Why do conservatives like to waste energy?" asks Tim McDonnell about a disturbing study on attitudes towards energy conservation:

A study out today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined attitudes about energy efficiency in liberals and conservatives, and found that promoting energy-efficient products and services on the basis of their environmental benefits actually turned conservatives off from picking them. The researchers first quizzed participants on how much they value various benefits of energy efficiency, including reducing carbon emissions, reducing foreign oil dependence, and reducing how much consumers pay for energy; cutting emissions appealed to conservatives the least.
The study then presented participants with a real-world choice: With a fixed amount of money in their wallet, respondents had to "buy" either an old-school light bulb or an efficient compact florescent bulb (CFL), the same kind Bachmann railed against. Both bulbs were labeled with basic hard data on their energy use, but without a translation of that into climate pros and cons. When the bulbs cost the same, and even when the CFL cost more, conservatives and liberals were equally likely to buy the efficient bulb. But slap a message on the CFL's packaging that says "Protect the Environment," and "we saw a significant drop-off in more politically moderates and conservatives choosing that option," said study author Dena Gromet, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

The author of the study says that political polarization of climate change is the reason conservatives choose to avoid products marketed as green, even though they may also save money in the long run. That may be the case, but I suspect it also has something to do with the right-wing framing of global warming as a hoax concocted by people like Al Gore to make money. They may see any product touting its greenness as putting money into the pockets of their political opposition or as a deception to be avoided.
I was also reminded of examples of people intentionally wasting energy out of spite due to their dislike for environmentalists or liberals. For example, the libertarian/conservative think tank, CEI opposed Earth Hour by encouraging people to keep the lights on. It's also not at all uncommon to see Facebook posts or tweets like these of people touting their poor MPG on their vehicle or plans to litter, because they dislike "tree huggers."
Why do you think conservatives are avoiding products marketed as green? And what should be done about it to make the issue less divisive?
UPDATE: At the Dot Earth blog, Andrew Revkin points to a 2009 study that found a similar pattern.

Conservatives prefer wasting energy over protecting the environment, study finds : TreeHugger

[Chloe]

It's interesting at least. Funny enough i've seen people on here talk about doing similar things just out of spite, and I've heard people mock things like this in person too. Whether it is a conservative issue or not who knows, but it is very sad that there are thousands of people out there that willfully mock environmental awareness and do things to reverse progress.

[KC]

I think it's based on partisan instinct rater than logic. People should buy the better product, based on utility, price, and their values. I think if a product would cost me roughly about the same, and give me the same amount of utility I'd always choose the Eco-friendly option.

[Chris]

I'd like to know how they defined lib and con. I suspect they found results, grouped the positives as liberal and grouped the negatives as conservative. Not really very interesting.

[Common]

It's interesting at least. Funny enough i've seen people on here talk about doing similar things just out of spite, and I've heard people mock things like this in person too. Whether it is a conservative issue or not who knows, but it is very sad that there are thousands of people out there that willfully mock environmental awareness and do things to reverse progress.

This is my perspective without a blatant partisan approach, just my beliefs based on political observation for decades.
The gop will most always fall on the side of business, I think we all know business does not like regulations or spending any kind of money they cant get a return on, like installing polution equiptment etc.
When environmental issues come out business comes first to republicans and that may be what causes the perception.

[Chloe]

I'd like to know how they defined lib and con. I suspect they found results, grouped the positives as liberal and grouped the negatives as conservative. Not really very interesting.

They probably defined it like everybody else probably does. It's not that hard to determine if someone leans liberal or conservative. Are you offended by the findings?

[Chris]

This is my perspective without a blatant partisan approach, just my beliefs based on political observation for decades.
The gop will most always fall on the side of business, I think we all know business does not like regulations or spending any kind of money they cant get a return on, like installing polution equiptment etc.
When environmental issues come out business comes first to republicans and that may be what causes the perception.

Nice partisan statement, common.

Note the study did not concern itself with partisan matters but matters of principle, lib v con, however ill-defined they left those lumping labels.

[Chloe]

Nice partisan statement, common.

Note the study did not concern itself with partisan matters but matters of principle, lib v con, however ill-defined they left those lumping labels.

You didn't find it interesting that the moment a "green" message was introduced the people who lean conservative actively went away from it for fear of supporting liberal ideals? Even though it's something that any party could really believe in?

[Chris]

You didn't find it interesting that the moment a "green" message was introduced the people who lean conservative actively went away from it for fear of supporting liberal ideals? Even though it's something that any party could really believe in?

I might if the lumping labels--something you find meaningless, no?--were defined. What do they mean by lib and con? I've dug as far as I can to the source study abstract and not a word on how they defined these labels.

I strongly suspect they put the cart before the horse here. Rather than even asking participants how they self-identified, the first questions divided participants in this way:

The researchers first quizzed participants on how much they value various benefits of energy efficiency, including reducing carbon emissions, reducing foreign oil dependence, and reducing how much consumers pay for energy; cutting emissions appealed to conservatives the least.

IOW, they divided people according to whether they favored or disfavored environmentalism, and slapped liberal on one and conservative on the other.

Based on that assumption, what other result would you expect?

[Chloe]

I might if the lumping labels--something you find meaningless, no?--were defined. What do they mean by lib and con? I've dug as far as I can to the source study abstract and not a word on how they defined these labels.

I strongly suspect they put the cart before the horse here. Rather than even asking participants how they self-identified, the first questions divided participants in this way:



IOW, they divided people according to whether they favored or disfavored environmentalism, and slapped liberal on one and conservative on the other.

Based on that assumption, what other result would you expect?

Well quite honestly the way that people would answer those questions could probably pretty accurately determine which way they lean politically. I know you don't agree with that but if I asked 10 people if they'd rather drive a prius or a mustang i'd probably image that the majority of liberals within that group of 10 would say prius. Or like if for example you had 10 people in a room and asked them all about carbon emissions i'm sure it would break down the same way. There are obvious divides between conservative and liberal and so you can try and hide it the best you can but for the most part peoples leanings come out without even saying what you are. If I never claimed on here to be a liberal wouldn't you already know that I was one based on my opinions?