Issue: Climate Impacts

Communicators should highlight the negative impacts associated with fossil fuel extraction and global warming in order to persuade people who are confident in the economic security of fossil fuels. This survey of Canadians shows that the transition to cleaner forms of energy is broadly popular. Further, people who are more likely to favor the energy transition also worry more about climate change, identify on the political left or center, and have less hope in the future economic prospects of fossil fuels. Women, younger people, and higher-educated people also favor the transition away from oil and gas more. This article argues for political elites and other communicators to pay attention to the impacts that their messages can have on what masses of voters think about climate policy.

A larger proportion of Wisconsinites are concerned about climate change than any other issue facing the state. However, folks are more concerned about the threat of climate change nationally rather than in Wisconsin. The article suggests this might be due to the increasingly nationalized nature of elections in Wisconsin. When considering messaging in swing states, where messaging is already more nationally focused, advocates interested in increasing turnout on these issues should actually consider more national frames. This is a deviation from most recommendations to focus on localized messaging.