Resources
Search below for resources covering the intersection of climate engagement, social science and data analytics.
RESULTS
Environmental Polling Consortium Quarterly Briefing – Q2 2024
This June 25 briefing features recent research on multiple climate politics topics. Rural voters support clean energy but are skeptical about moving away from fossil fuels. Climate’s effects on weather and on Americans’ wallets outperform other climate messages. All topics covered include renewable energy siting (courtesy of NRDC); rural clean energy attitudes (courtesy of the Rural Climate Partnership); new and different techniques to effectively communicate about climate change (courtesy of the Climate Action Campaign); and Americans' prioritization of different environmental issues and the ways that environmental priorities differ across audiences (courtesy of the Partnership Project Innovation Hub).
Climate Doom to Messy Hope: Climate Healing & Resilience
Grounded in a commitment to fostering deeper understandings and connections, this theory-to-practice handbook aims to support mindful and proactive navigation of the escalating impacts of climate change on individual and community mental health and wellbeing.
Transforming the Rural Narrative on Climate Solutions
Join the Rural Climate Partnership for a presentation on how we can use a benefits-forward narrative strategy to connect with rural people. Together, we'll explore 5 narrative keys that allow communicators to reach across cultural differences and avoid culture war frames to connect on shared values.
Poll: Westerners want more conservation action from elected officials
Western voters are deeply concerned about corporate interests harming Western lands and support a range of conservation solutions, including creating and protecting national monuments and doing more to regulate oil and gas operations on public lands. 87% of Western voters say that it’s important to them that a candidate supports conservation of public lands when deciding who to vote for in an election. 74% of Western voters say that they would feel more favorably about President Biden and his administration if they did more to focus efforts to protect and conserve public lands, parks, wildlife, and monuments. 71% of Western voters say that they are more likely to vote for someone who prioritizes protecting public lands from being taken over by private developers and oil and mining corporations. 70% of Western voters say that the government should do more to create and protect national monuments on public land that has significant historical, scenic, or scientific value for the future.
Poll: Rural voters may be swingable
While partisanship remains strong among the rural electorate, more than one-third (37%) of rural voters appear "swingable" in future elections, depending on resonant policy proposals and messaging. Three messaging points — lowering prices; bringing good-paying jobs to local communities; and a populist message focused on corporate greed — received such broad support that they rivaled voters’ agreement on core values like family and freedom. Read additional analysis in the Daily Yonder's coverage.
Pushing for Energy Justice with Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition: Community Organizing Lessons from Alaska
The Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition (FCAC) is working to advance a Just Transition away from fossil fuel extraction and towards renewable energy and a regenerative economy in interior Alaska. For several years, FCAC’s Renewable Energy Working Group has been organizing around their local electric utility cooperative, Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), to support more generation from renewable energy sources and energy justice initiatives and decarbonization of electricity. FCAC’s organizing efforts have supported more pro-renewable candidates to be democratically elected to the GVEA’s Board of Directors and pushed the utility to consider community solar projects and on-bill financing. A major win came in June 2022 when the GVEA Board adopted a strategic generation plan including a commitment to close down one of their coal plants and pursue a large scale wind power project.
In this webinar, FCAC shares learnings from their Microgrant Report: Cooperative Opportunity: Clean Energy documenting the development of their campaign, sharing reflections on how their organizing structure led to wins, the challenges they faced, and the lessons that can be learned to succeed in future campaigns.
Survey Shows Pathway To Speeding Up EV Adoption in Rural Areas
There is plenty of interest in electric vehicles (EVs) in rural areas, but there is a huge knowledge gap about what it is like to own an EV. In a nationally representative 2020 survey, across urban, suburban and rural areas, 4% of the respondents with valid driver’s licenses said they would definitely plan to get an EV for their next vehicle. In the latest survey, which was fielded in early 2022, this share has increased from 4% overall to 11% in rural areas and 18% in urban areas. An additional 18% of rural dwellers and 25% of urban dwellers would seriously consider buying or leasing an EV if they were to get a vehicle today. When considering respondents who would definitely plan and seriously consider (not including those who are open to getting one in the future), this adds up to 29% of rural drivers who would at least seriously consider buying or leasing an EV. Among rural dwellers, only 6% said they were very familiar with the fundamentals of buying and owning an EV, while 30% said they were somewhat familiar. One of the reasons for this lack of familiarity could be the scarcity of EVs in rural areas: only 27% of rural dwellers have seen an EV in their neighborhood in the past month compared to more than half of urban dwellers, and even fewer have a friend, relative or co-worker who owns an EV. A whopping 90% of rural dwellers have never been a passenger in an EV, and almost nobody has ever driven one.
Cooperative Opportunity: Pushing for Cleaner Energy
Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition's (FCAC), a community-led grassroots organization working towards climate justice on Lower Tanana Dene lands in interior Alaska. This report was developed by their Renewable Energy Working Group in partnership with the Lab to capture and share out the learnings of their in their longest standing campaign organizing around their local electric cooperative, Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) which provides electricity for almost 100,000 residents in Interior Alaska.
Voters want the Farm Bill reauthorized with more environmental protections and incentives for sustainability. 83% of voters agree that farmers have a responsibility to reduce harmful pollutants reaching U.S. rivers, lakes, and oceans. 76% of voters agree that the government should encourage farmers to use climate-friendly practices. 76% of voters support increasing the total farm subsidies or aid that farmers can receive as part of the Farm Bill reauthorization if they implement more sustainable practices. 72% of voters support a federal research program as part of the Farm Bill reauthorization to help farmers understand how to move to more climate-friendly farming practices.
Nebraska Rural Poll
Rural Nebraskans are concerned about extreme weather and climate change but aren’t convinced about proposed climate solutions. 59% of rural Nebraskans agree that we have a responsibility to future generations to reduce the effects of climate change. 55% of rural Nebraskans are concerned about severe droughts. 52% of rural Nebraskans recognize that human activity is contributing to climate change.
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