Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear definitely applies to cleaner air. Addressing littering was relatively easy compared to air quality because you could see the trash. Out of sight out of mind also applies because once again pollution rarely has top of the mind awareness. Awareness is important in order to motivate people to do the right thing and it was easy to see the trash along our highways and wooded areas in the U.S..
In order for clean energy to have an impact, it’s imperative to have a public campaign promoting it. Public service announcements work and that was a huge advantage impacting the prevention of public littering. Solar is in need of the same PSA’s that helped eliminate littering. PSA’s also helped prevent forest fires with Smokey the Bear, it seemed like those commercials ran for decades. From seat belts to drunk driving, PSA’s have been a part of the American way of life until solar came along? Why doesn’t anybody care about the environment is because they can’t see the damage being done like littering.
No PSA’s and a lack of somebody famous to help promote solar like Charlton Heston did for NRA is disastrous for the home solar industry. The cost of solar is low enough to help over 90% of homeowners save money and yet most are still skeptical. Why doesn’t anybody care about the environment is because the damage is invisible.