Climate Change Warning Labels on Gas Pump Nozzles by Our Horizon

Great idea, like warning labels on cigarette packs. But how will you get industry to go along? Not willingly. You will have to have it legislated. Good luck with that.

Interesting proposal, great idea, but will probably face challenges and opposition by the oil companies. Yet I agree that if it works with cigarettes, it may eventually work with gas pumps. Making people feel guilty is one way to encourage change, but it should be supplemented with solutions and alternatives (such as a good public transit system, bike lanes etc.) If this campaign succeeds, please consider taking it a step forward and looking at the bigger picture and main challenge, which is reducing consumption. Even people who do not drive a lot, do buy consumer goods, whether it's at a store or online. What if there could be a climate change warning label or some rating on every product we buy?.. Taking into consideration the life-cycle analysis, all the resources that were consumed in extracting, shipping, processing, manufacturing, packaging, shipping again etc, and then also disposal and recyclability. Perhaps it would encourage people to buy less, or at least to buy more locally if possible?.. Good luck with your campaign :-) Cheers !..

Re: "education is only effective if there are real viable alternatives available" Real viable alternatives will only become available with effective education. Our labels disrupt the status quo and stimulate demand for alternatives. Watch our TEDx talk to learn more: http://ourhorizon.org/TEDx

Very well researched and presented project! Warning images/photos are pleasing to the eye/inviting and convey a convincing message. Two thoughts to consider: 1. Many gas stations have TV/PC monitors built in at the pump area, typically presenting credit card deals, news, etc. These monitors could present your nice video - seems a company like BP should be approached - they've been trying hard to present an eco-friendly image in the aftermath of the gulf disaster. 2. There is a HUGE difference in annual vehicle emission tonnage based on the model year, Gross Vehicle Weight and power trains (e.g., since 1978 industry CAFE and GHG emission standards have gotten better and better). The public should be informed of when CAFE/GHG standards were put in place and consider moving to newer vehicles which produce less emissions. For example, ***The Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards Rule EPA’s endangerment finding in 2009 did not impose any limitations on GHGs by itself, but was instead a prerequisite for establishing regulations for GHGs from mobile sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 202(a). Actual emissions requirements came later on May 7, 2010 when the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized the Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards Rule (LDV Rule). The LDV Rule applies to light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles (e.g., cars, sport utility vehicles, minivans, and pickup trucks used for personal transportation) for model years 2012 through 2016. The EPA estimated that this rule will prevent 960 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions from being emitted to the atmosphere, and that it will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles subject to the rule*** *** For 2017-2025 the EPA states: "The final standards are projected to result in an average industry fleetwide level of 163 grams/mile of carbon dioxide (CO2) in model year 2025, which is equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) if achieved exclusively through fuel economy improvements. Light-duty vehicles are currently responsible for nearly 60 percent of U.S. transportation-related petroleum use and GHG emissions***

This project will be helpful, and should be widely supported. The project team seems to have a well established process for realizing all the educational potential of this project, and I wish them every success. I can imagine that there may be some obstacles created by people opposed to this project; however, I believe the approach of working at the municipal level is a good approach (see proposal creator Rob Shirkey’s comment (#2): “…we're not aiming to persuade industry to go along, we're wanting to get municipalities to pass laws that would require the labels of gasoline retailers as a condition of maintaining their license to do business in the community. You can download our 40-page legal report from our website at http://ourhorizon.org. “There are roughly 4,000 cities and towns in Canada. We're not lobbying one federal government or a handful of provincial governments, our organization empowers communities across the country with unprecedented approaches to climate change. Our motto is 'Think Global, Act Municipal'. My background is in municipal law and I've always realized that cities have powers to do really exciting things on climate change….” There is a similar approach being taken in the Food Sovereignty/Food Security/Local Food Movement, which might be useful to the thinking of the project team, so I’ll share an example. Maine Town Passes Landmark Local Food Ordinance a) “On Saturday, March 5 (2011), residents of a small coastal town in Maine voted unanimously to adopt the Local Food and Self-Governance Ordinance, setting a precedent for other towns looking to preserve small-scale farming and food processing. “ From press release “MAINE TOWN PASSES LANDMARK LOCAL FOOD ORDINANCE” at the website “Food For Maine’s Future” (paragraph 1)(see http://savingseeds.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/maine-town-passes-landmark-local-food-ordinance/ ) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 7, 2011 MAINE TOWN PASSES LANDMARK LOCAL FOOD ORDINANCE Sedgwick becomes first town in Maine to adopt protections SEDGWICK, MAINE – “On Saturday, March 5, residents of a small coastal town in Maine voted unanimously to adopt the Local Food and Self-Governance Ordinance, setting a precedent for other towns looking to preserve small-scale farming and food processing. Sedgwick, located on the Blue Hill Peninsula in Western Hancock County, became the first town in Maine, and perhaps the nation, to exempt direct farm sales from state and federal licensing and inspection. The ordinance also exempts foods made in the home kitchen, similar to the Michigan Cottage Food Law passed last year, but without caps on gross sales or restrictions on types of exempt foods.” (from text of ordinance) “We recognize that family farms, sustainable agricultural practices, and food processing by individuals, families and non-corporate entities offers stability to our rural way of life by enhancing the economic, environmental and social wealth of our community. As such, our right to a local food system requires us to assert our inherent right to self-government.” b) “We the People of the Town of (name of town), (name of county) County, Maine have the right to produce, process, sell, purchase and consume local foods thus promoting self-reliance, the preservation of family farms, and local food traditions.” From Template for Local Food Ordinances in Maine (at http://savingseeds.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/localfoodlocalrules-ordinance-template.pdf ) Section 3. Preamble and Purpose. (excerpt) “We the People of the Town of (name of town), (name of county) County, Maine have the right to produce, process, sell, purchase and consume local foods thus promoting self-reliance, the preservation of family farms, and local food traditions. We recognize that family farms, sustainable agricultural practices, and food processing by individuals, families and non-corporate entities offers stability to our rural way of life by enhancing the economic, environmental and social wealth of our community. As such, our right to a local food system requires us to assert our inherent right to self-government. We recognize the authority to protect that right as belonging to the Town of (name of town) . “We have faith in our citizens’ ability to educate themselves and make informed decisions. We hold that federal and state regulations impede local food production and constitute a usurpation of our citizens’ right to foods of their choice. We support food that fundamentally respects human dignity and health, nourishes individuals and the community, and sustains producers, processors and the environment. We are therefore duty bound under the Constitution of the State of Maine to protect and promote unimpeded access to local foods.”

Hi RS, Interesting idea and yet its so simple!! Just a thought as I'm from the east, here in MENA and developing countries (India), we have Fuel man / Petrol pump operator to help us in filling up the gas for our cars. Hence we don't actually hold the gas pump and the message will not be communicated to the users. The idea of video terminals might solve this. The other challenge would be most of the users might not directly feel the impact of climate change / don't see the effect of climate change on their daily life (unlike the smoking cigars will have an immediate effect at least within their lifetime) and hence labeling / signs has accompanied with massive public awareness on CC impacts will be required at least in this part of the world. Well done and all the best, Saravanan.

Judge 1: This is a well worked out proposal and is being implemented in Canada by what appears to be a zealous and committed group. It is based on social psychological theory, noting the role of personal responsibility, awareness of negative consequences both to people and the environment. The weak link is there is no evidence that these warnings on gas pumps change behavior. There are no pilot tests that show gasoline consumption declining in a test case where these are used. Frankly I would be quite surprised if a test showed positive effects on behavior because there is no clear behavioral information on the warning. What is the car owner with a nearly empty gas tank supposed to do when he sees the warning—quit filling the tank and walk away? The situation—I have a car, I am late for work, I am about out of gas drives behavior much much more than fear arousals of possible (note how most of the warnings say “may”) impacts in the future. Note how the evidence of effectiveness of the fear appeals was not a reduction in smoking, but that other countries have adopted. All this shows is that policy makers and the public think that scaring people changes behavior. As decades of research in social psychology shows—it doesn’t work that way. Fear arousal produces denial. It is possible that looking at these warnings on pumps every week when they are engaged in the “wrong” behavior will stimulate defensive denial. This is another appealing proposal that is not likely to achieve its objectives. Just is we need science to monitor changes in the climate we must use science to test intuitively proposals. The key word here is test. Judge 2: This is a very interesting proposal. The team make the case based on existing consumer 'cognitive' preparedness due to tobacco warnings. Even more powerful would be for the team to present some data on how effective these tobacco warnings have been. Do consumers pay attention or do they become desensitised? Even so this is an interesting concept and warrants more research.