Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash
by Christine Muller
Absolutely, energy efficiency and conservation do help the climate, but! This is not always the case; it depends …
Imagine you have insulated your apartment or house well, have replaced old appliances with energy-efficient ones, and are conserving energy as much as you can. If you then use the resulting savings for a vacation flight or for buying more clothing or gadgets, there will be little benefit for the environment, and your actions could even contribute more Earth-warming greenhouse gases to the atmosphere!
Or, if you have switched to a fuel-efficient car, you may drive more, which may cancel the environmental benefit.
Similarly, when an industry becomes more energy-efficient, production gets less expensive. Products can then be offered cheaply. So, people may buy more, which reduces or eliminates the environmental benefit again.
This phenomenon is often called the rebound effect. It substantiates the fact that technology alone cannot save humanity. We need a spiritual transformation that helps people internalize that the purpose of life lies not in the acquisition of material things, but in a simple life focused on service and on contributing to the well-being of others and the community.
The Universal House of Justice, in commenting on the path to economic well-being, warns us about materialism and guides us onto a path of contentment and moderation:
“… At all times, contentment and moderation, benevolence and fellow feeling, sacrifice and reliance on the Almighty are qualities that befit the God-fearing soul.
“The forces of materialism promote a quite contrary line of thinking: that happiness comes from constant acquisition, that the more one has the better, that worry for the environment is for another day. These seductive messages fuel an increasingly entrenched sense of personal entitlement, which uses the language of justice and rights to disguise self-interest. Indifference to the hardship experienced by others becomes commonplace while entertainment and distracting amusements are voraciously consumed. The enervating influence of materialism seeps into every culture, and all Bahá’ís recognize that, unless they strive to remain conscious of its effects, they may to one degree or another unwittingly adopt its ways of seeing the world.”
So, let’s continue to save energy and reduce our material consumption, and, at the same time, nurture our spiritual capacity for contentment and moderation!
Of course, in addition to our individual efforts to save the climate, we also need large-scale societal action: putting a price on carbon would certainly help to prevent or minimize the rebound effect. And, of course, the foundation for an environmentally sustainable society is its spiritualization.
Resources for learning more about the Rebound Effect:
Rebound effects
Informative UBA (a European Environmental Protection Agency) web page
The Rebound Effect and Energy Efficiency Policy (PDF)
Kenneth Gillingham et al.
