SAN FRANCISCO – A group of Bay Area environmentalists is pushing for warning labels on gasoline pumps that “warn” drivers that the fuel they’re putting in their vehicles is harmful to the planet. 

“Human beings are not really wired for seeing the cause and effect of climate change,” Jamie Brooks of the Bay Area chapter of 350.org told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The cause is burning fossil fuels, but we’re not going to feel the effects until well into the future. There’s no immediate signal to a consumer of gasoline to show their effects on climate.”

Brooks says that the labels would “tell drivers that the state of California has determined global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, to be a major threat,” notes the newspaper, adding that the group is pitching the idea to city governments, claiming that cities have the legal authority to impose the labels on local gas stations.

The rationale behind his belief that the labels could survive a legal challenge, according to Brooks, is that gas pumps already post labels warning that chemicals in gasoline could cause cancer.

Brooks told the newspaper that the global warming warning labels could help “prod drivers” to consume less gasoline and turn to alternative sources such as electric vehicles.

“The goal isn’t to take transportation away from people and say, ‘You’re a bad person,’” he said. “The goal is to create a signal saying, ‘You need to change your behavior.’”