The technology behind the first Earth Day was a canvassing operation run with phones and paper mail. Now we have an Internet with global reach and a tech sector with unprecedented capacity to crunch data and figure out what works. So why can鈥檛 we use those tools to stage a massive, 21st-century teach-in on climate and energy, and get everyone on Earth to care?
It鈥檚 not as ridiculous as it sounds. Let鈥檚 revisit that last example about saving energy and the 鈥渒eeping up with the Joneses.鈥� Right now, utilities are using cloud-based analytics to inform families how much energy they鈥檙e using compared to their neighbors. That tiny behavioral cue, given to millions, is yielding massive energy savings. If we followed through by rolling out behavioral energy efficiency programs like that nationwide, we could abate 10 million metric tons of carbon emissions every year 鈥� and put $2.2 billion back in consumers鈥� pockets.
Large-scale behavioral change wasn鈥檛 possible before because we didn鈥檛 have the technology. Now we do, and it changes the game.
