Choice Editing
10th September 2007 by Anne-Marie Warris
The last few weeks has been full of climate issues on the news front, be it the EC stopping Chinese import of cheap energy efficient light bulbs. How does that square with the need consumers identified in the What assures consumers report for choice editing?
Choice editing is the term used in the report to describe instances where governments/and or businesses are making climate change choice for consumers (such as Australia removing all non energy efficient lightbulbs from the market). This last edict from EC would imply that yes we can have energy efficient light bulb but only at a price!
On another example of the difficulties and problems arising from choice editing was evident in a BBC 24 story last Saturday. The focus was all about the new eco friendly houses but how the materials used to build them may actually make the houses unbearably hot in increased temperatures and hence require air-conditioning which rather defeats the objective of energy efficient housing. Another issue where the consumer need for choice editing may not quite take us where we all expected.
Thoughts anyone?
Dr Anne-Marie Warris is Technical Director: Climate Change for 