My parents have interesting views. They tend to be on the conservative side, and don't really worry too much about climate change or carbon footprints or any of that. Obviously they don't want the world to get all messed up from human interference, but they don't subscribe to typical beliefs about global warming and whatnot. Typically, they do what they can to keep energy costs low, and that usually falls in line with preventing dangerous climate change.
During my conversation, I talked mainly about the ways that our family is reducing the amount of energy we use. For example, I asked my mom what kinds of things we are doing to lower our energy costs. Currently, we have low-power fluorescent bulbs installed in every room. We also have a lot of insulation to keep the cold out, meaning we use our heater less. We don't have A/C, so that's not an issue. Additionally, we turn off all lights when we leave the house, and don't run lights in rooms we aren't using.
My parents don't really believe in a large-scale, immediate climate change. They're more of the opinion that it will happen slowly and falls in line with the natural cycles of the earth. That doesn't mean they don't want to take measures to prevent some kind of happening like this, even though they find it unlikely that something like that would ever happen. We have three cars, all of which get very good gas mileage, and only drive when it's completely necessary. That means lower emissions, which means a healthier Earth. We traded in our gas guzzler truck for a much more efficient Mini Cooper, and it gets 35 miles to the gallon.
As far as other topics go, they seemed to know only a small amount about different forms of energy. Since we have been considering installing solar heating for our pool, they obviously have some ideas about what types of alternative energies are out there.
Our conversation was more of me asking their opinions on specific topics, not really a debate or discussion. I just asked certain questions about energy usage and other energy-related topics and they told me their opinions. That's really all that happened.
All in all, my parents are pretty neutral towards energy use and climate change, even though they have taken some measures to reduce energy costs. They mostly live their lives in whatever way is most beneficial to family finances, and I don't really see a problem with that. As long as they aren't going out of their way to destroy the environment, I think whatever they're currently doing to reduce energy cost and harmful emissions is sufficient.
