Issue: Solar

Describe the clean energy aspects of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) as a “landmark achievement” to address climate change and show off local benefits to communities, rather than as a way for people to save money. This is one insight from the Potential Energy Coalition’s research after they surveyed over 15,000 people, tested dozens of messages and gathered hundreds of hours of interview data from Americans across the political spectrum in the past nine months. All to answer the question, what is the best way to talk about clean energy that gets Americans excited? This webinar also covered the public’s current state of opinion and knowledge on these topics, other effective messages and messaging traps to avoid, plus wording guidance.

Support for clean energy is vulnerable to highly localized concerns. Rural residents hold favorable views of solar farms (55%) and wind farms (50%). When asked about wind/solar farms in their community, support drops to 37%. 61% of respondents have a favorable opinion of oil and gas companies while 59% have a favorable opinion of clean energy companies. Many believe that fossil fuel sources remain a critical part of our energy mix and don’t think clean energy will be ready to truly replace them any time soon. Advocates are more likely to win over rural hearts and minds by avoiding zero-sum thinking and leaning into the benefits of many energy sources. Early education can inoculate against mis/disinformation. Opposition messages are not that strong when a countervailing message is provided, especially when coming from trusted messengers. Overall, messages in opposition to clean energy were more than 10% less convincing in this research than messages in support.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling on the Inflation Reduction Act, attitudes toward the country’s major domestic energy sources, and a new paper on the behaviors and perceptions that correlate the most strongly with changes in climate attitudes.