banner

TITLE: Public Opinion and Global Warming in California

AUTHORS: Sonja Petek and Mark Baldassare

PAGES: 33      DATE: May 2007

ABSTRACT: As the issues of global warming and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions loom ever larger in public discourse and in the policy arena, California once again is at the forefront in enacting state-level policies to protect the environment. Where do residents stand on global warming issues? Using comprehensive data collected as part of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey, this paper finds that an increasing proportion of residents express concern about global warming and its impacts, and strong majorities across political parties and demographic groups express support for state policies aimed at reducing GHG emissions. In analyzing past predictors of environmental policy, we find that support for global warming policies is significantly related to perceived environmental threat, liberal ideology, race/ethnicity, and education. When expanding the list of predictors to include measures of the current political context, we find that support for state-level global warming policies is still related to perceived threat and liberal ideology, and is also associated with attitudes toward the state government’s handling of environmental issues, but is unrelated to attitudes toward the federal government’s handling of environmental issues. The implications for understanding public support of state-level global warming policies are discussed.

PPIC working papers present work in progress and may not be quoted or cited without permission of the author. Comments or suggestions, however, are welcome.

To order a working paper, please call or email Jennifer Paluch, Policy Research Operations Manager at (415) 291-4416.