Most climate change policy attention has been addressed to long-term options, such as inducing new, low-carbon energy technologies and creating cap-and-trade regimes for emissions. We use a behavioral approach to examine the reasonably achievable potential for near-term reductions by altered adoption and use of available technologies in US homes and nonbusiness travel. We estimate the plasticity of 17 household action types in 5 behaviorally distinct categories by use of data on the most effective documented interventions that do not involve new regulatory measures. These interventions vary by type of action and typically combine several policy tools and strong social marketing. National implementation could save an estimated 123 million metric tons of carbon per year in year 10, which is 20% of household direct emissions or 7.4% of US national emissions, with little or no reduction in household well-being. The potential of household action deserves increased policy attention. Future analyses of this potential should incorporate behavioral as well as economic and engineering elements.climate mitigation ͉ climate policy ͉ energy efficiency ͉ household behavior ͉ energy consumption

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Three experiments tested whether visual processing operates under attentional control, and with temporal-spatial capacity limitations. The 5s identified which of two key letters was present in briefly presented four-letter displays. The simultaneous condition presented the letters concurrently for t msec., preceded and followed by masking fields. The sequential condition presented the letters successively, each preceded and followed by a masking field, each for t msec. In the sequential condition, 5s were given the onset order of the four letters. Models postulating attentional control and limited capacity would predict an advantage for the sequential condition since in this case processing capacity need not be simultaneously shared among four letters. The results demonstrated simultaneous and sequential conditions to be equal. It was concluded that the initial stages of visual processing, up to at least the level of letter recognition, take place without capacity limitation and without attentional control.

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Behavioral research on conservation has considered four types of independent variables: information on ways to conserve energy, prompts (exhortations to energy-saving action), monetary incentives, and feedback (information about current rates of consumption), This work has been reviewed elsewhere (Reichel & Geller, in press;Shippee, 1980;Winett & Neale, 1979; Carlyle & Geller, Note 2; Ellis & Gaskell, Note 3), so only general statements are offered here.Information and prompts have most often been used in unsystematic campaigns organized by government or energy industry sources. The limited data from systematic research suggest that information on how to save is effective only as part of