Audience: Conservatives & Republicans

Get back to basics in climate communications with simple messages, plain (but vivid) language, and relatable benefits. These are among the key takeaways from the 600 million digital ads and two years of testing by Potential Energy, a nonprofit coalition of creative, analytic, and media agencies that brings a marketing philosophy of “People First” communication to climate. This webinar covered frameworks and language that most increase climate change understanding, messaging “ways in” that increase worry and demand for government action, terminology and concepts to avoid, and key audience segments most open to new messages.
The creative content from their Science Moms and The Great American Build campaigns is available for others to amplify online.             

Virginia voters largely support Democratic policy proposals; they’re also ideologically moderate overall (based on self-described ideology). Based on a 2021 phone survey, Virginia voters on the whole view Republican elected officials as more conservative than they view Democratic elected officials as liberal. On environmental policy, a strong majority of Virginia voters overall support renewable energy investments (82%). 65% support/strongly support a “Green New Deal” to address climate change by investing government funds in green jobs and infrastructure, and 53% support/strongly support a carbon tax or cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions. Republicans strongly support expanding offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters (83%), which is opposed by both Democratic voters (72%) and independents (63%). The survey also asked about healthcare, immigration, and economic policy.