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Exchange Exemplar: How peer pressure could save the planet

Maybe you once swore you would never own an SUV, yet you drive one now. How'd that happen?

Chances are your friends all had them, and you succumbed to peer pressure. It DOES work in both directions, as Robert H. Frank points out. And peer pressure as a way of getting climate change under control could work, with the pressure applied to the appropriate pressure points.

Frank, an economist, demonstrates in his book Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work. Examples abound, like the way policy changes made smoking a habit no longer socially acceptable.

Our 2020 interview gets a second listen here.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.