The sobering statistics are enough to make anyone want to dim the lights. Or feel enormously guilty. It's so easy to fall into moralizing about who's good and who's bad and who's guilty. We're supposed to feel guilty about using so much and depriving others on the planet. The blame game is part of consumer culture.
Food is an example.
As Wilk has done in his research, people who are obsessed with dieting are also obsessed with food. The same goes for cultures that are energy gluttons. But critics say efforts have been too erratic here and nationwide. But there's no continuing attention to the issue. People drove less during the oil crisis of the 1970s, but resumed burning up the highway when it eased.