Public Nuclear Preferences in the United States in the Context of Climate Change: Exploring Inter‐ and Intra‐Group Variations

Original

Public Nuclear Preferences in the United States in the Context of Climate Change: Exploring Inter‐ and Intra‐Group Variations

Ani Ter‐Mkrtchyan, Kuhika Gupta, Hank C. Jenkins‐Smith, Joseph T. Ripberger, Carol L. Silva

Abstract

ABSTRACT Beliefs about climate change vary widely among members of the American public, encompassing opinions on whether the climate is changing, its causes, and what actions humans can take (or should take) to mitigate its effects. Some policy elites and environmentalists argue that nuclear energy—the largest source of carbon‐free energy in the U.S. – will act as a crucial bridge in the transition to renewable energy, while others hold strong opposition to it. Using data from three nationwide internet surveys involving over 6000 American adults, we analyze the relationship between beliefs about climate change and support for nuclear energy among the broader U.S. public. Additionally, we investigate how beliefs about climate change affect support for nuclear energy based on political ideology, partisanship, and cultural worldviews among different subsets of respondents, as well as intra‐group differences among stronger and weaker ideological and partisan groups. We also examine broader environmental attitudes in all our models and find that these underlying values continue to shape the U.S. public's positions on their preferred role of nuclear energy. Our findings have both theoretical and policy implications concerning the influence of public opinion on the future role of nuclear energy.