School Notes: School of the Environment
March/April 2009

Americans eager to reduce their energy use

Many Americans are already taking action to reduce their energy use and many others would do the same if they could afford to, according to a national survey conducted by Yale and George Mason universities.

Roughly half of the 2,164 American adults surveyed last September and October said they had already taken important steps to make their homes more energy-efficient, and a substantial number -- between 10 and 20 percent -- said they planned to take action over the next year. Almost two-thirds of the respondents said that they would like to buy a fuel-efficient car, but over a third said they can't afford one.

While saving money is by far the most common reason why people take energy-saving actions -- including insulating their attic, caulking and weather-stripping their home, setting their thermostats to more energy-efficient levels, and buying a more fuel-efficient car -- large numbers of respondents said they were also motivated to reduce global warming by the desire to act morally and by taking energy-saving actions that made them feel good about themselves. By more than a 2-to-1 margin, respondents also said they believe that making changes to reduce their energy use will improve -- not diminish -- the quality of their lives.

Overall, many Americans are ready, willing, and able to save energy at home and on the road. Many others are ready and willing, but need some help," said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change and lead investigator on the survey. "A national strategy to conserve energy and invest in energy efficiency will find the American people a willing partner."

A copy of the survey is available at http://environment.yale.edu.

Study to investigate air pollution's effect on newborns

A five-year study at Yale, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will investigate whether a woman's exposure to air pollution and automobile emissions during pregnancy can lower her baby's birth weight and result in preterm delivery. Preterm delivery and low birth weight are major causes of infant mortality and severe morbidity in the United States. Researchers will study the exposure of pregnant women to carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and both fine and coarse particle pollution; use data derived from birth certificates; and track an existing cohort of about 10,000 pregnant women, who live in Connecticut and Massachusetts and have already yielded detailed information about prior pregnancies, residence history during pregnancy, smoking habits, rates of alcohol consumption, and occupational and other exposures.