Resource Library

Using frames and rhetoric that emphasize consumer responsibility, demand, and the uncertainty of climate risk, fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil downplay the seriousness of climate change. An analysis of ExxonMobil’s internal and external facing documents use different frames to talk about climate change. In advertisements, the company’s rhetoric acknowledges that climate change poses a risk, but the authors argue that the risk frame encourages uncertainty about the seriousness of human-caused climate change. Similarly, advertisements also use frames that put responsibility on individuals, indicating that individuals’ energy demand has been too high for companies to meet it with anything but fossil fuels. The company can use these frames and rhetoric to sidestep responsibility for their role in human-cause climate change.             

President Biden sped around in a new Ford F-150 Lightning earlier this week proclaiming, “This sucker’s quick!”
Of course, we’ve also seen a “quick” acceleration in the electric vehicle space over the past few months, with Biden calling for huge investments in EVs and charging infrastructure as part of the American Jobs Plan and numerous automakers announcing plans to phase out production of gas vehicles. The last time our team examined insights around transportation electrification*, the Trump administration was challenging California’s clean car standards. Today, that effort is dead and more than a dozen states have adopted the standards and are moving forward with policy implementation. Yay for progress!
However, even with momentum (and renewed concern about the price and availability of gas, with the recent Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack), fewer than 1% of U.S. cars are electric. Analysts project sales of gasoline-powered vehicles need to end by 2035 if we want a fully electric fleet by 2050, requiring a much more ambitious timeline than current policies dictate.
This week, we dig into insights from a slew of recent polling and messaging research that helps us understand how to structure campaigns that build the public and political will necessary for a just transition to clean cars – while also recognizing the importance of reducing vehicle miles traveled overall and ending our dependence on single-occupancy vehicles.

A broad majority young Americans understand anthropogenic climate change, but many are struggling to identify individual practices they can take to improve global sustainability, according to a survey of 15-25 year olds on climate change, environmental justice, and related public policy initiatives.

38% call climate change a crisis, 31% say it’s a problem, 12% a concern, 9% a non-issue, and 8% label it fiction.
While 44% of young Americans are either “very” (21%) or “somewhat” (23%) optimistic the world will successfully address climate change, 47% are either “somewhat” (12%) or “very” (25%) pessimistic
Respodents expressed a strong desire to do their part in mitigating climate change, but many were unsure how:
27% of respondents say they have reduced their usage of single-use plastics, 14% take alternate transportation, and 12% have curtailed electrical use. Another 14% have participated in a march or protest, and 10% have volunteered to create change. 67% have shared climate information on social media. (89% report they get the majority of their news from social media.)
67% of respondents report they do not believe U.S. residents are equally protected against exposure to pollution and other ecological hazards and 37% characterize environmental justice in the U.S. as “extremely inequitable.”
The survey also found significant support for many of President Biden’s environmental actions.

52% of Americans agree that electric vehicles are instrumental in combating climate change, and 41% say they would consider an EV for their next car.
45% of Americans— and 72% of potential EV drivers — say environmental considerations are important when buying a car.
46% agree that governments should increase tax incentives for people who buy EVs 
 Top barrier to buying is drivers’ uncertainty around finding a charging station when they need. Only 18% of Americans, and 30% of potential EV drivers, say that there are enough charging stations in their area.
Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) EV drivers said they’ve had problems charging their EVs at public charging stations that were broken, not designed to accommodate people with disabilities, or otherwise difficult to use.
According to survey responses, the typical U.S. EV driver is young (18 to 34), male, highly educated, and charges their EV mostly at home (73%). Most EV drivers own multiple cars — often, an EV plus a gas car — a sign that drivers don’t feel comfortable going fully-electric without a backup because EV charging infrastructure is not yet widely available.