New York, NY — Climate-conscious policies are gaining traction throughout the United States, yet according to a Pew Research study from January 2024, only 12% of Republicans say dealing with climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress. New research from Columbia Business School Professor Gernot Wagner, the Faculty Director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative, finds that when policymakers reframe climate change as an economic issue, there’s more engagement: the new frame reduces polarization and can make climate change a bipartisan issue.
In the study, Supply, Demand and Polarization Challenges Facing US Climate Policies, Professor Wagner and his research partners from 15 institutions examine the connection of conservative and liberal beliefs to the polarization around low-carbon technologies and the adoption of initiatives like electric vehicles and solar panels. The study includes an extensive review, including an earlier study by one of his co-authors that examined 418 enacted and 450 failed state-level decarbonization bills from 2015 to 2020. It revealed that economically framed bills with financial incentives garnered more bipartisan support and success than those without. That earlier study also found that bipartisan or Republican-sponsored bills often provided financial incentives for renewable energy and allowed more consumer and business choices, while Democrat-sponsored bills typically imposed mandatory restrictions. Similarly, in another study by one of his co-authors, researchers conducted 14 interviews with Republican and Democratic state legislators. They analyzed their perspectives on renewable energy and energy efficiency laws. They uncovered that conservative legislators tended to view mandates like renewable energy standards as burdensome government overreach. In contrast, incentives such as tax credits were welcomed for fostering business growth without imposing direct costs. Professor Wagner gestures to this pattern as evidence of policy framing influences across political ideologies, suggesting that strategies tailored to these identities can enhance policy acceptance and combat the role of social-political identities in shaping responses to climate policies.
Professor Wagner asserts that if policymakers want to shift the conversation around climate initiatives, there is a path forward to bridge partisan divides. Framing climate initiatives around the economic negatives, such as supply chain disruptions, and the positives, like job creation in renewable sectors and household energy savings, can help bridge the partisan divide of green initiatives.
To learn more about cutting-edge research being conducted, please visit Columbia Business School.
###
