Motivational messaging can encourage people’s willingness to make trade-offs in favor of the environment. In this study, researchers find that giving people information about how longer air travel times reduce carbon emissions make people more willing to have longer travel times. This willingness was even higher for those who were told the travel time would be much longer, rather than just a little longer. Finally, the authors also find that the effects of messaging are strongest among those with higher levels of environmental concern. Members interested in encouraging trade-offs in favor of the environment should consider motivational information framing.             

Emphasize "methane" and don't use "natural" in language referring to the substance sometimes referred to as "natural gas". In testing the positve and negativ assocations with the phrases “natural gas,” “natural methane gas,” “methane,” or “methane gas”, among Americans, the term “natural gas” evokes much more positive feelings than do any of the three methane terms. Conversely, the terms “methane” and “methane gas” evoke much more negative feelings than does “natural gas.” The hybrid term “natural methane gas” is in the middle — it is perceived more positively than “methane” or “methane gas,” but more negatively than “natural gas.” This pattern was true for both Democrats and Republicans, whereas further research from this team found that the additional terms “fossil gas” and “fracked gas” were more polarizing: viewed favorably by Republicans but very negatively by Democrats. So, if engaging an exclusively left-leaning audience, "fossil gas" or "fracked gas" may be the best choices.

How did the alliance behind the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) move a visionary idea from concept to groundbreaking reality? In this webinar, the Climate Advocacy Lab was joined in conversation with members of the PCEF Steering Committee for an "under the hood" look at the campaign's insights, challenges, and lessons learned –– also captured in a new, interview-based report that captures the "anatomy" of the campaign. This campaign secured a landslide ballot measure victory in Portland in November 2018, establishing a multi-million dollar municipal fund that will address climate, economic, and racial justice by providing funding for renewable energy projects, job training and apprenticeship programs, and regenerative agriculture.

This conversation highlights findings from two reports focused on how the climate advocacy community can support equitable climate resilience (the ability of communities to adapt and thrive in the face of impacts from climate change) in climate policies and programs, as advocates nationwide are pushed to think beyond a frame of "simply" climate mitigation: Making Equity Real in Climate Adaptation and Community Resilience Policies and Programs: A Guidebook and Mapping Resilience: A Blueprint for Thriving in the Face of Climate Disasters.

Ingredients for a hopeful message: Boost efficacy (self, collective, response), give reasons we are likely to try (and succeed) in tackling climate change, and insure people (already) think climate change is important. Research indicates that news media coverage of climate change in the United States has emphasized the harms of warming more so than potential solutions, or what is known as “the hope gap” . It is thus not surprising that many express a feeling of fatalism or helplessness in the face of climate change. This dissertation develops a theory of hope as it pertains to social issues and applies it to climate change, develops a more in-depth set of measures of the emotion of hope in response to climate change than previous researchers. Results support the validity of the concept and measurement of climate change hope. Novel insights, such as identifying a sub-population of apparent stoic optimists who persist in feeling hopeful about climate change despite their intense skepticism that humanity will succeed in rising to the challenge.