These are not good times to be green. Oil spewing in the Gulf Coast is looking like the nation's worst ever environmental disaster. Public doubts about climate change have risen, and our consumption of carbon-based fuels has not changed much. The man environmentalists helped elect president appears to have little power or urgency to carry out their agenda.  However, I remain convinced that, despite these current situations, society has fundamentally changed its attitudes and behaviors. Americans want a lifestyle with limits and an economy that sustains the world's resources. They are willing to sacrifice, but right now people are on sacrifice overload.  The most obvious cause is a U.S. economy in a real or jobless recession since 2008. Last month a Zogby Interactive poll found 60% believe many of the jobs lost during the recession are not likely to come back and 54% expect the current recession to continue for several more years. Perhaps the most depressing figure from that poll is the 32% who think our economy will never return to its former strength and that our days as the most powerful economy in the world are over.  Another reason why people may seem unwilling to sacrifice now is a lack of trust in both government and big business. People ask why they should deprive themselves when Wall Street executives still make millions after nearly ruining the economy and the government seems to have rewarded them for their misdeeds.  Politics is polarized and we are bombarded with differing views of reality. People who didn't know whom to believe now believe no one. Case in point: e-mails among climate change scientists discussing how they might conceal data that appeared to dispute their own research.  In 1997 31% of Americans believed the seriousness of global warming had been exaggerated. Last March 48% surveyed felt global warming claims were dubious, according to Gallup. In Great Britain, a BBC survey published last February found that only 26% of Britons believed "climate change is happening and is now established as largely man-made." That is down from 41% in November 2009. A poll conducted for the German magazine Der Spiegel showed 42% of Germans feared global warming, down from 62% four years earlier.  Clearly, environmentalists are losing the PR battle to their corporate-funded opponents with the resources and abilities to communicate climate change denial. I believe science is on the side of those who believe the threat is real, and that they will learn from their PR mistakes.  British Petroleum ( BP - news - people ) would seem to be making the case for the green movement with its inability to prevent or stop the Gulf oil spill. However, our polling on the disaster is not encouraging for those who would halt offshore drilling.  In two interactive surveys done last month (the latest May 25-27), 58% of adults agreed that "Offshore drilling is still a safe, reliable and cost-efficient method of producing oil." Both polls also found 51% agreeing that offshore drilling will lead to increased environmental problems.
The economy and the public trust have a ways to go before people will make real sacrifices for the environment.