The “more gov’t policy needed” bit did cause me to raise an eyebrow as well- certainly there’s something more additional legislation that can be done? However, it’s fairly clear by this point that the invisible hand of the market isn’t going to fix things on its own…

I’d tend to agree with Jonny, though — there’s a lot in the U.S. that raises our score that we don’t even think about. I spent part of June and July in Northern Ireland and was both annoyed and refreshed by the fact that every time I wanted to use an electrical outlet, I had to flip a switch by the outlet. Even ovens had switches — it seems minor but I’d guess it makes a substantial difference between our per capita energy consumption and theirs. When I asked people there about those switches or why, for example, they tend to drive such small cars (the average car was about the size of a VW Golf), they explained to me that it mostly had to do with government policy, either legislation or taxes (the larger the vehicle, the higher the tax). I’m not a huge fan of big government, either, but I can’t think of any instance in which the market (purely on its own) has been able to address issues like these; nor am I sure of other good ways to instill that sense of responsibility and collectiveness.