Appealing to the Climate Skeptic
Climate skeptics account for approximately three in ten U.S. adults nationwide. Many of these individuals live in areas least impacted thus far from the impacts of climate change and tend to be conservative or conservative-leaning voters.
The typical appeals of science and data, presented by leaders in the energy industry, scientific experts, and mainstream news have been futile or even counter-productive with this segment of the U.S. population, often creating even greater skepticism and resistance to climate interventions. The impact of climate skeptics, thus far, has been and continues to be daunting, adding time, money, and red tape to innovation, proliferation, and regulatory approval, thus impeding the evolution of Clean Tech and the progress towards net zero.
Inside the mind of the climate skeptic. How are their perceptions different from climate advocates?
Climate skeptics as a segment of the U.S. population, according to the Yale Climate Opinion Map, tend to live in areas of the Midwest, Mountain West, South, Southwest, and Coastal Florida areas, and align most closely with conservative political values. Surprisingly both income and education vary greatly amongst this segment. Many believe climate change occurring is a natural cycle.
“I do believe [the climate] is changing, but I believe it is changing in a natural cycle that happens all the time. What I don’t believe is that humans are 100% responsible for climate change.” –Man, 50s, Mountain West
While many climate skeptics believe climate change is occurring, they do not believe intervention will correct the course of climate outcomes, nor do they believe human behavior to be a contributor or accelerator influencing climate impact.
Who do climate skeptics trust?
Media, marketing messaging, and expert testimony attesting to the impact of humans on the global climate tend to invoke a reaction of increased scrutiny and disbelief amongst climate skeptics, actually having the opposite of the desired effect. Furthermore, the more dire or dramatic the climate messaging, the more off-putting it is to climate skeptics.
“From a personal standpoint, whether it’s the climate or anything else, when the statements are too large … like when the statements are, ‘The world is getting warmer and Earth is going to be ended in five years because we’re all terrible humans and we throw trash on the ground.’ Those things cause me to be, instead of causing me to be concerned, it causes me to be more skeptical about where the information is coming from and why it’s being presented in such a grandiose term, for lack of a better word.”
–Woman, 30s, Midwest
Of all climate experts, skeptics tended to be most open to communication from credentialed climate scientists regarding climate changes and human impact. However, even though open to hearing climate scientists pose information and call to action, though rational evidenced-based communication, many skeptics still believe scientists may be financially motivated or have personal bases that contribute to their overall message and are not fully trusting.
How to speak the language of the climate skeptic, making them allies instead of adversaries in decelerating the climate crisis.
There are three primary messages that resonate with climate skeptics. Focusing on these key areas as the primary message, with climate facts and evidence as secondary, is more likely to turn the tide of skepticism into curiosity and engagement. 1) Focus on financials and economic benefits. 2) Respect personal freedoms and opinions. 3) Discuss local impact and benefits.
A focus on financials and economics. The current White House Administration has pledged more than $50 billion to Climate Resiliency initiatives in grid modernization, infrastructure, clean tech innovation, EVs, and water conservation. These funds will aid in reducing inflation while alleviating the financial burden on the American people of large-scale updates to old and failing infrastructure and resources. In rural and low income areas, benefits of inflation reduction, decrease burden of energy transmission infrastructure, and bringing jobs to the local economy through climate resiliency initiatives appeals to the climate skeptic.
Respect the opinion of skeptics. It’s easy to slip into climate hero mode when that’s your belief system, but when taking on this role with climate skeptics, climate advocacy and insistence can actually have the opposite impact. Making sure when engaging with climate skeptics, via social media, marketing, or other channels, to understand their position, engage in active listening, and make them feel heard and understood. It’s not so much about convincing them of the truth of human impact on the climate, as much as it is on respecting their position, and sharing a vision for how climate intervention strategies through infrastructure, demand response, and innovation can help improve their lives, communities, and the overall economy.
Discuss local impact. Having data and quantifying how your organization or activities will improve the local quality of life, economy, and job outlook through the numbers will always help when discussing climate and clean tech initiatives with climate skeptics. Their value system is different from those who believe in the dire state and implications of achieving net zero.
In striving for common ground and mutual benefit, ensuring skeptics feel heard and understood will go miles beyond futile efforts in trying to sway them on the belief in critical intervention strategies. May the force be with you on your important outreach to this difficult but curious segment of our population!
About the author: Alissa Tambone has over 20 years experience in large agency, client side, and most recently boutique agency research in public sentiment and policy, CPG, automotive, product innovation and marketing strategy research. As the founder of the female-owned Swell Market Research agency, she seeks to offer end-to-end research that serves as a catalyst for marketing, innovation, regulatory reform, and strategic alignment of prioritization in all facets of net-zero, sustainability, and clean tech. When not working relentlessly for consensus-building and climate endeavors, you can find her hiking in the backcountry friends, family, and her rescue pup, “Rowlff”, swimming open water competitions in her beloved Pacific region, cleaning up beaches with Surf Rider Foundation, skiing in the Sierra Nevada’s or Rocky Mountains, cooking up new concoctions in the kitchen, or immersed in a new book.
