Even if they are more likely to behave in eco-friendly ways, it doesn’t matter. It’s like a business owner in the 1960s saying “I would never segregate my customers based on race, but I don’t believe we have a civil rights issue in this country and no action should be taken about it and I’ll vote for politicians that oppose civil rights legislation.” They’re still wrong.
It is wrong for someone to act like a racist in their own life, even more racist than those opposing policy actions, and yet clamor for change by society at large. That appears a pretty clear example of hypocrisy. Whether AGW is real, has all the characteristics you think it has, and requires the policy solutions you think it requires, is a separate and complex debate.
But NeverarGreat offers an interesting alternative explanation (although I don’t think it is about moral licensing). I think more study is needed to test that theory and the moral licensing idea. Another thing that struck me is that the skeptics reported taking public transportation more. In my experience, people take public transportation when it is (1) readily available, as in urban areas and (2) for economic reasons. At least for that issue, I think feelings of guilt would be attenuated. I take public transportation all the time and it has nothing to do with virtue. I hate the idea of sitting in traffic and paying for parking every day. The train is faster and cheaper. On the other hand I loathe buses but those who don’t own a car and need to get around to places where trains don’t run don’t have a choice. While views on the environment can have an impact, public transportation use is based heavily on these very different sets of factors. Being eco-friendly is costly and I wouldn’t be surprised to find a simple divide on that basis.
My theory is that a great many people who claim to believe in AGW, don’t really. They know it’s what one is supposed to believe and so they say so. I would liken it to those who claim to believe in a set of religious beliefs and yet that belief is superficial. Similarly I think there are those who sincerely and deeply believe in AGW lumped in with a great many people who merely pay it lip service.