Ask people if they would like to be thinner, richer or more successful with the opposite sex and the answers are all likely to be “yes”.
Losing weight, earning more money, asking a beautiful girl on a date… All of these require some work. But the payoff is tangible, measurable and in the near future.
But even when the returns are almost immediate, getting people to take action is hard.
Most of us just aren’t very good at doing what we know we should do.
Ask someone if they would like to stop climate change and you have about a 50% chance of encountering someone who doesn’t believe it’s real or a concern. The other 50% will say yes, that they would like to do something about it.
Trying to get someone to contribute to solving the climate change problem is hard not just because fewer than 50% of people in the U.S. are concerned, but because of apathy. Less than 50% of people in the U.S. believe that it will affect them personally.