As the New York Times blog Green put it, “What a difference an oil spill makes.”

Californians’ wariness of offshore drilling dates back to the Santa Barbara spill of 1969, but the Gulf of Mexico spill seems to have shifted public sentiment in the state quickly, even father away from offshore drilling—and toward a more activist view on global warming.

A poll taken by Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that after favoring offshore drilling for the past two years, Californians now oppose drilling off the coast, 59% to 36%.

That is a sizable 16-point shift in opinion from last year, when only 43% were opposed to offshore drilling.

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According to the “2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study,” conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, among the guests who were aware of them, 73% claimed they participated in hotels’ conservation programs.

The ups and downs of the public’s interest in—and attitudes toward—BP and its handling of the Gulf oil spill can be traced in online activity.

According to blog and twitter tracking by Sysomos, which provides business intelligence for social media, after April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon platform first caught fire, to July 15, 2010, when the spill was finally capped, social media mentions of BP exploded.

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At the same time China is taking strides to become the world leader in alternative energy production, tests on water samples taken from the country’s major rivers and lakes by the Ministry of Environmental Protection show less than half of China’s water is safe for drinking.

The percentage of potable water did rise from 48% in 2009 to 49.3% this year, however.

The Gulf oil spill was a disaster—for the environment, fishermen, oil workers, the economy and tourism, and its effects continue.

A report, “Potential Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Tourism,” conducted by Oxford Economics for the US Travel Association, projects that the effects of the BP oil spill on travel to the Gulf Coast will last up to three years and cost the region $22.7 billion.

The coastal region’s 400,000 travel industry jobs will be profoundly impacted.

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In a survey conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (ERPI), in conjugation with Southern California Edison (SCE), 51% of Southern Californian consumers said they expect a full electric vehicle (EV) charge to take four to eight hours.

In addition, 95% of them said they would prefer to charge their EVs at home, and 83% claimed they also had 240-volt service in their homes, though they might need to move an outlet closer to their vehicle in order to charge it.

Consumer electronics are increasingly focusing on the issue of energy efficiency, and television manufacturers in particular are looking for ways to deliver cost savings to customers.

Of course, size matters.

In Germany, the “Energy Efficiency Tracking” survey, conducted from January to May 2010 by GfK Retail and Technology, found the size of the TV screen is the most important criterion for TV power consumption.

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The GEMS system was created by Soyka & Company and IW Financial to rate Russell 1000 corporation on their sustainability policies and practices, Of the 962 companies assessed this year, 448 scored under 10, and 170 received a zero—they disclosed no information related to the 49 indicators used.

One thing is certain, US consumers are tightening their belts and cutting back.

According to “The Harris Poll,” conducted by Harris Interactive, people are increasingly doing a number of small things to save money. For instance, they are cutting media consumption, canceling magazine, newspaper and cable TV subscriptions.

The main reasons for the changes in consumption patterns are economic, but as a result consumers are behaving in more environmentally friendly ways.

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For more charts from the GE report cited above, see 88% of US Consumers Favor the Use of Smart Grid Devices.

According to the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), worldwide, the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest on record.

It has not been as bad in the States. “For the US, January to June, this is only slightly warmer than average,” Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the NCDC told Reuters.

Nevertheless, warmer temperatures and drought conditions in many parts of the country are taxing aquifers already stressed by heavy agricultural and consumer use—and the situation could get worse.

The “Climate Change, Water and Risk” report, issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), predicts over 1,100 counties across the US—one-third of all the counties in the contiguous 48 states—face potential water shortages by mid-century.

Here is the NRDC’s view of US counties in 2050 with no global warming effects.

(c) Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), used by permission.

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In one of the first opinion polls released since the BP Gulf well was capped, Rasmussen Reports found 56% of US voters still believe offshore oil drilling should be allowed.

Nevertheless, 72% of voters are at least somewhat concerned that new offshore oil drilling will cause environmental problems, up 8% from last month—and that includes 39% who are “very concerned.”

Overall, however, since polling on the question began in May, there has been little change in public sentiment.

According to NPD, total US personal care and beauty product sales exceeded $42 billion in 2007, and due to the economy, Euromonitor predicted that figure would decline $1 billion between 2007 and 2012, with sales slipping 0.4% on average per year.

Still, it is a huge market.

Kantar Media pegged US personal care advertising spending at over $5.5 billion in 2009.

Nevertheless, the vast health and beauty industry is now under attack.

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As the poll above illustrates, and the Washington Post reported: “For environmentalists, the BP oil spill may be disproving the maxim that great tragedies produce great change.

“Traditionally, American environmentalism wins its biggest victories after some important piece of American environment is poisoned, exterminated or set on fire. An oil spill and a burning river in 1969 led to new anti-pollution laws in the 1970s. The Exxon Valdez disaster helped create an Earth Day revival in 1990 and sparked a landmark clean-air law.

“But this year, the worst oil spill in U.S. history—and, before that, the worst coal-mining disaster in 40 years—haven’t put the same kind of drive into the debate over climate change and fossil-fuel energy.”

Water treatment is projected to become an onrushing business.

According to EL Insights, over the next twenty years, it will require investments of nearly $335 billion to make the US water systems safe and reliable.

In the next five years alone, the US corporate water treatment market is expected to rise from $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion.

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