Is the introduction of a carbon tax a ‘teachable moment’ to change habits?

With the arrival of the carbon tax earlier this month, many people will be looking to see where they can make savings through their behaviour. Alan Pears’ article in The Conversation last month pointed out some ways in which simple changes to purchase choices and behaviour can result in energy and cost savings. While these calculations present a clear financial case for changing our ways, whether people will take these economic arguments into consideration and change their behaviour accordingly requires scrutiny. For one-off or irregular behaviours such as purchasing new appliances and retrofitting they may have some bearing. However, for habitual behaviours, the case could be quite different.