Issue: Economic Impacts

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling on the Build Back Better plan, the economic risks of climate change, corporate accountability measures, environmental justice, and voters’ relative trust in the two parties to handle climate change.

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.