A✌️467-word✌️2.5-minute✌️read
This is post #4 on the University of Chicago Energy Policy Institute/Associated Press poll that takes the pulse of Americans on climate change.
Monday’s post on how attitudes have changed was described in two words: stagnant and polarized.
The word for Tuesday’s post would be experience. That post examined the question on how experiencing firsthand extreme weather impacted behavior and attitudes.
The word for yesterday’s post was hope. That was based on how differently young Republicans view climate-related issues compared to older Republicans. The answer should serve as a guide to develop a more effective strategy.
Sadly, today’s word is despair.
The associated poll question relates to people’s willingness to pay a carbon fee.
Nobody ever accused me of being a glass half full kind of guy, but this result disappointed even me. It is also a damming indictment on just how ineffective the overall climate messaging and strategy has been.
Yes, I’m going to continue to beat that dead horse because until the climate movement admits its mistakes, and makes the necessary adjustments, nothing else will matter. It’s the old “garbage in, garbage out” philosophy. A bad strategy will continue to yield bad results, period.
If you think I’m exaggerating, let the attached chart illustrating the results of the question sink in.
First, a clarification that’s in the fine print.
In 2021 the question asked changed slightly, but not to a degree that would distort the results.
The original question asked:
“Suppose a proposal was on the ballot next year to add a monthly fee to consumers’ monthly electricity bill to combat climate change. If this proposal passes, it would cost your household ($1, $10, $20, $40, $75, $100) every month.
Would you vote in favor of this monthly fee to combat climate change, or would you vote against this monthly fee?”
In 2021 the question referred to Congress imposing a carbon fee that would increase monthly household expenses for energy (electricity, heating gas, gasoline, diesel) by a total of $__ ($1, $10, $20, $40, $75, $100).
Would you support, oppose or neither support nor oppose that law?
As I said, the change isn’t material, but I wanted to note it.
As for the responses, disappointing doesn’t begin to adequately describe them.
None of the responses trend in a positive direction, and that is far from the worst aspect of the result. That would be the percentage of people willing to pay $1 a month. Only 38% are willing to pay $1, and that’s down from 52% in 2021.
Yeah – that crisis message is really resonating.
If you find that discouraging, check out next Monday’s post on a recent World Resource Institute webinar reviewing the status of its 42 metrics.\
The climate movement is in desperate need of an immediate reset.
#climatechange #climatechangechallenges #climatechangeisreal