1. Not seeing what is happening. Sometimes folks just aren't informed on what is going on. Hard to make logical conclusions and adapt to them if you don't have the information.
2. Refusal to accept the new reality. Folks will just stick their heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away. Often this happens with a family who simply can't afford to maintain their current lifestyle. They will try to borrow and juggle bills and try to hold onto the greased string as long as they possibly can. Like tearing off a band aid going slower just makes it worse. Better to have a couple really rough months than a couple pretty rough years.
Also there are those starving farmers in Africa. Ya know the ones you always see on the aid commercials. The ones who keep planting pathetic little gardens on their 1/2 of an acre farm in the Sudan where 9/10 years there is a drought that kills all the crops.
3. They limit their options. They refuse to try the kind of food that is available and starve instead. They refuse to move to find work. They hope old jobs will come back instead of focusing on retraining and finding new employment.
4. They give up. Adapting, at least in the context we are talking about, is usually unpleasant. Like any other human situation there is a huge psychological factor. When something bad happens I am not saying you shouldn't be sad. Eat a carton of ice cream, or drink a half bottle of booze or whatever it is you do. Go to sleep, wake up and get the heck on with your life. It will eventually get better.
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You seem to assume that each individual is making individual, reasoned choices all the time.
The reality is that there are scam artists. There marketing gurus that care about promoting a product, agenda, or candidate without regard to harm done. There are charismatic leaders and passionate promoters for everything to eradicating armadillos, alerting people to the dangers of prescription drugs, and the wonders of Xado oil treatment / engine restorer (which seems to work).
So the first hurdle much of the time is credibility, before there is much chance of meaningful communication.
Most of us live in communities. We are influenced by how the people we respect speak and behave. When communities and states and much of the Federal government proceeds as if nothing were going on - that is a lot of inertia in our personal agendas.
When someone talks about AGW or peak oil, we first filter their words - do they have a reputation for being gullible (did they fall for a facile spiel)? - do they seem to get their information from respected or at least credible sources (can we trust the sources, if not the messenger)? Climategate ruined much of the credibility of the science community about AGW, as the presence (whether widespread or not, though subsequent revelations from other quarters tend to support that AGW was a politically motivated, not scientifically recognized, conclusion).
The other major obstacle is the difference between a reasoned conclusion, an accepted practice, and an article of faith.
Someone going about their daily lives as if there were not AGW or peak oil, that is simply unaware of the concerns about AGW or peak oil, will often re-examine their reasoned conclusion when presented with conflicting information. Communicate clearly, and be prepared to dialogue - not present or dictate, but to accept the validity of their present views, and participate in examining your own views and information in an objective manner.
For someone following accepted practice, they have seldom examined their own decisions - are are often resistant to do so. They may follow the rest of their community - or follow any will-o-wisp scheme put forward by anyone willing to give them attention - for the moment.
Those that follow the leader, that follow their beliefs, are not interested in dialogue. They are so invested in their own moral rectitude they are unable to hear anything contrary to their own belief, without needing to attack such heresy. You may be able to cut others from the flock, those not so invested in "True Belief", but don't expect miracles with the Faithful (whatever their investment might be, from religion to following a charismatic leader or cause, to fanatical self-investment).
At the grass roots you can focus on what people can do for themselves, though many will be swayed if they are benefiting home, extended family, and community - some are still invested in what is best for the state or nation (patriotism).
To establish credibility you need presence among national leaders. Otherwise you risk blowing over faster than angst over Brittney Spears' jail time. Just look at how many years Labor Unions struggled to make headway, until they got their shill planted in the White House and seeded into the Congress. That is the kind of inertia and credibility issues that peak oil and AGW preparation groups face.
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