COMMENTARY ON THE ENVIRONMENT : In Orange County, Conservatism Also Means Conservation : The Orange County Annual Survey finds county residents expressing attitudes and taking actions regarding the environment that were once derisively labeled ‘liberal.’

The ninth Orange County Annual Survey, released last month, finds two surprising trends. In their political views, residents of this notoriously conservative county say they are turning even more conservative. But when it comes to the environment, county residents are expressing attitudes and taking actions that were once considered “liberal.”

Is this a contradiction or a new political trend? We think the latter. As the 1990s unfold, conservatism in Orange County is also coming to mean conservation.

In our survey, nearly half of the 1,000 county residents interviewed in September, 46%, called themselves political conservatives. This is up 9 points since the 1982 Annual Survey and 6 points from 1989.

But residents appear to be redefining their conservatism in this new decade, with the emergence of a new-found threat to individual happiness.

The 1990s began with an oil spill on local beaches, jitters about malathion spraying, a bond measure to save Laguna Canyon and new steps by the Air Quality Management District to ease Southern California’s pollution. The nation commemorated the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, while in California voters weighed the sweeping Big Green initiative. On the world scene, attention focused on the threat of ozone depletion, destruction of rain forests and global warming.

How did Orange County conservatives react to these events? First they got worried. The 1990 Annual Survey finds that nine in 10 residents consider environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, to be threats to their own well-being and health. Sixty percent say the threat is “very serious,” and 31% say it is “somewhat serious.” Fewer than one in 10 rate today’s environmental problems as “not too serious.”

Women worry more than men, the young more than older residents, but most liberals and conservatives alike are highly concerned about the health effects of environmental problems.

Next, they began to take action. The 1990 survey shows residents making some personal sacrifices to ease environmental problems. Three in four say they often try to conserve water. Sixty-eight percent often set aside their newspapers, glass and aluminum cans for recycling. And 52% say they often try to buy “environmentally safe” products.

This environmental activism is new. People are making more personal efforts this year than last. Water conservation is the biggest change, with 54% of respondents saying they are much more likely to limit water use this year than last. One in two residents say they are much more likely to recycle now than last year. And 38% are much more likely to try to buy environmentally safe products.

So far, this personal activism also has its limits. County residents are not ready to give up their cars to help save the environment. The same number drive alone to work now as in the 1982 survey, 83%, while relatively few use car pools, van pools, walk, bicycle or take buses.

Just 35% say they often try to cut down on how much they drive to reduce air pollution, while one in three say they hardly ever or never limit their driving for environmental reasons. Twenty-five percent say they are much more likely to limit their driving this year than last, while half say they have not changed or have even increased their driving.

As further evidence of the new political trend, conservative Orange County now sees a role for public transit in its future. When given a list of possible solutions to the traffic problems, eight in 10 residents now say a new rapid-rail system would help, making this solution as popular as widening freeways. This is a 14-point increase in support for building a rapid-rail system since 1981. Also, 84% say a monorail system in the central county would be a significant help.

Residents also put public transit in a tie with freeway widening as a top priority for future government funding. Fifty-seven percent rank improving public transportation as a high priority, while 56% give this rating to widening existing freeways. In just six years, support for improving public transportation has grown by 18 points.

As for the new projects, most respondents consider building a local rail system and expanding the Los Angeles-to-San Diego rail service throughout Orange County as high funding priorities.

In a break with the past--when it was always the other person’s turn to make sacrifices for the general good--many residents appear to be willing at least to try breaking the habit of driving alone to work. Sixty-one percent say they would consider commuting by rapid transit if available. More than half would consider taking car pools and van pools. And one in four would consider going to work by bus.

This is all the more surprising, given that most Orange County residents have driven alone for their entire careers. Half have never car-pooled, three in four have never commuted by bus, 85% have never taken a local train to work and nine in 10 have never used an employer van pool.

Public transit--once the scapegoat of those looking for examples of government waste--is the subject of growing interest. In November, when county voters took the very non-conservative action of passing a half-cent sales tax for transportation, the message of public transit projects being included clearly helped its passage. Our survey indicated that support for the sales tax increased when public transit was mentioned among projects that would be funded and declined when only roads and freeways were mentioned.

To people seeking ways to reduce traffic congestion and improve the region’s air quality, public transit now makes good sense.

Why the change of heart for Orange County’s devoted conservatives? Because the environment is becoming an issue that hits home. Like war and peace, crime and safety, taxes and jobs, environmental problems are seen as threatening lives and the well-being of future generations.

And, true to their conservative colors, residents also see the environment as an issue of the 1990s, in which private efforts, as well as corporate and government actions, can make a difference.