Setting aside all the alarmism about global warming, I think we can all agree that we want to live in a clean environment. None of us wants to breathe polluted air or to fish in polluted waters. But what the green people need to realize is that the public isn’t going to act collectively to “save the planet” out of pure altruism. Most people make energy decisions based on money first, convenience second. Each individual is looking at his/her bottom line, so the best way to get them to go “green” is to find alternatives that offer some sort of cost savings.
Here in America I think the compact fluorescent light bulbs were doing pretty good in that vein. They use less energy and supposedly last longer, thus the end consumer not only uses less energy but also sees a cost savings. On-demand water heaters are another example of this. Not only do they use less energy because they don’t have to keep 100 gallons or so of water warm all day, they also provide convenience in the form of endless amounts of hot water.
That sort of clearly defined benefit is what is going to turn citizens on to going green, not increased taxes for government programs which manifest no immediately tangible outcomes and usually result in little more than the creation of more costly, public-harassing bureaucracy.