Climate denial in Canada and the United States

Nature conservation versus climate protection: a basic conflict of goals regarding the acceptance of climate protection measures?

Transformation processes are embedded in a broader discourse on sustainability, climate protection, and biodiversity protection. In this context, possible interindividual conflicts between an interest in nature conservation and efforts to counteract climate change also seem to be relevant. This study focuses on the acceptability of different climate protection measures with possible impacts on landscapes, habitats, and human recreation. Based on a survey of a representative sample (N = 1,427 participants), the impact of conservation-related beliefs on the acceptance of four different climate protection measures was analyzed with respect to possible conflicts with values and norms relevant to climate protection. The study focuses in particular on potential value-based conflicts, as this type of conflict is classified as non-negotiable in negotiation processes and thus represents a particular social challenge. Also, to consider the possible relevance of political orientation and humanity orientation, eight structural equation models were tested. Results showed similar structures for the acceptance of the four climate protection measures. There did not seem to be value-based conflicts between nature conservation and climate protection, as the results showed substantial similarities between nature conservation beliefs grounded in biospheric value orientation (protecting biodiversity) and values and norms relevant for climate protection. Political orientation seemed to be relevant as well, as left-oriented people were more likely to accept the four climate protection measures that were tested. However, the relationship between political orientation and acceptance of the measures was - without exception - mediated by the personal norm.

Canadian climate change attitudes and energy policy

This paper uses original Canadian survey data to compare support for and opposition to five energy-related climate policies. Results show that Canadians were very concerned about climate change and supportive of the policies. Variation in support and opposition was investigated using logistic regression. We tested models that associate climate policy support with a combination of one's ecological worldview, climate change attitudes, personal capabilities, contextual influences, and ascription of responsibility to take action on climate change, applying elements of Stern's (2000) theory of environmentally-significant behaviour and Patchen's (2010) model of climate change behaviour. We found that the more abstract policies attracted a different set of predictors than the more concrete policies. Females and parents showed increased support for the more abstract policies. Having an ecological worldview was a significant predictor of support for all policies but was obscured by other factors in a combined model. Cet article utilise des données d'enquête canadiennes originales pour comparer le soutien et l'opposition à cinq politiques climatiques liées à l'énergie. Les résultats montrent que les Canadiens étaient très préoccupés par le changement climatique et appuyaient les politiques. La variation du soutien et de l'opposition a été étudiée à l'aide de la régression logistique. Nous avons testé des modèles qui associent le soutien à la politique climatique à une combinaison de vision du monde écologique, d'attitudes face au changement climatique, de capacités personnelles, d'influences contextuelles et d'attribution de la responsabilité d'agir sur le changement climatique, en appliquant des éléments de la théorie de Stern (2000) sur le comportement significatif pour l'environnement et le modèle de comportement face au changement climatique de Patchen (2010). Nous avons constaté que les politiques plus abstraites attiraient un ensemble différent de prédicteurs que les politiques plus concrètes. Les femmes et les parents ont montré un soutien accru pour les politiques plus abstraites. Avoir une vision du monde écologique était un prédicteur significatif du soutien à toutes les politiques, mais était obscurci par d'autres facteurs dans un modèle combiné.