Exploring public opinion on the issue of climate change in Britain

British Politics

Volumn 7, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 183-202

  Clements, Ben ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Britain; climate change; environmental concern; public opinion; survey analysis

Indexed keywords

EID: 84861045780     PISSN: 1746918X     EISSN: 17469198     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1057/bp.2012.1     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. Adam, D. (2010) Confidence in climate science remains strong, poll shows. The Guardian 11 June, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/11/ confidence-climate-science-poll?INTCMP=SRCH.
2. Asthana, A. (2010) Climate scepticism grows among Tories. The Observer 7 February.
3. BBC News. (2010) Climate scepticism 'on the rise'. 2 July, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/8500443.stm.
4. Borick, C.P. and Rabe, B.G. (2010) A reason to believe: Examining the factors that determine individual views on global warming. Social Science Quarterly 91(3): 777-800.
5. Bowcott, O. (2010) Climate change concern declines in poll. The Guardian 23 May.
6. Carrington, D. (2011) Public belief in climate change weathers storm, poll shows. The Guardian 31 January, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/ jan/31/public-belief-climate-change? INTCMP=SRCH.
7. Carrington, D. and Stratton, A. (2011) What happened to the Conservatives' green agenda? The Guardian 6 October.
8. Carter, N. (2006) Party politicisation of the environment in Britain. Party Politics 12(6): 747-767.
9. Carter, N. (2008) Combating climate change in the UK: Challenges and obstacles. Political Quarterly 79(2): 194-205.
10. Charter, D. (2009) BNP leader Nick Griffin to attend Copenhagen summit for EU. The Times 30 November.
11. Curry, T.E., Reiner, D.M., de Figueiredo, M.A. and Herzog, H.J. (2005) A Survey of Public Attitudes Towards Energy & Environment in Great Britain, March 2005. MIT LFEE 2005-001 WP. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
12. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. (2009) Environment Statistics and Indicators Division, Energy Saving Trust and TNS Social Research, Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours toward the Environment, 2009 [Computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor] January 2010. SN: 6366.
13. De Vaus, D. (2002) Surveys in Social Research. London: Routledge.
14. Dietz, T., Stern, P.C. and Guagnano, G.A. (1998) Social structural and social psychological bases of environmental concern. Environment and Behavior 30(4): 450-471.
15. Dunlap, R.E. and McCright, A.M. (2008) A widening gap: Republican and Democratic views on climate change. Environment 50(5): 26-35.
16. Dunlap, R.E., Xiao, C. and McCright, A.M. (2001) Politics and environment in America: Partisan and ideological cleavages in public support for environmentalism. Environmental Politics 10(4): 23-48.
17. Dunlap, R.E., Van Liere, K.D., Mertig, A.G. and Jones, R.E. (2000) Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues 56(3): 425-442.
18. European Commission. (2009) Eurobarometer 71.1, January-February 2009 (Computer file). Conducted by TNS OPINION & SOCIAL, Brussels, requested and coordinated by the European Commission, Directorate General Press and Communication, Opinion Polls. ZA4971 [Version identification], Cologne Germany: GESIS, 2009.
19. Frazer, E.J. and MacDonald, K.I. (2003) Sex differences in political knowledge in Britain. Political Studies 51(1): 67-83.
20. Garner, R. (2011) Environmental Politics: The Age of Climate Change, 3rd edn. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.
21. Grice, A. (2010) Climate change set to be the Tories' new Europe. The Independent 19 January.
22. Hamilton, L.C. (2011) Education, politics, and opinions about climate change: Evidence for interaction effects. Climatic Change 104(2): 231-242.
23. Hamilton, L.C. and Keim, B.D. (2009) Regional variation in perceptions about climate change. International Journal of Climatology 29(15): 2348-2352.
24. Harvey, F. (2011) EU votes against reducing carbon emissions by 30%. The Guardian 5 July.
25. Hayes, B.C. (2001) Gender, scientific knowledge, and attitudes toward the environment: A cross-national analysis. Political Research Quarterly 54(3): 657-671.
26. Hennessy, P. (2009) Half of voters sceptical about climate change. The Sunday Telegraph 6 December.
27. Jones, R.E. and Dunlap, R.E. (1992) The social bases of environmental concern: Have they changed over time? Rural Sociology 57(1): 28-47.
28. Jowitt, J. and McKie, R. (2007) Green fatigue' leads to fear of backlash over climate change. The Observer 30 December: 15.
29. Kellstedt, P.M., Zahran, S. and Vedlitz, A. (2008) Personal efficacy, the information environment, and attitudes toward global warming and climate change in the United States. Risk Analysis 28(1): 113-126.
30. Leiserowitz, A. (2005) American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous? Risk Analysis 25(6): 1433-1442.
31. Leiserowitz, A. (2006) Climate change risk perceptions and policy preferences: The role of affect, imagery, and values. Climatic Change 77(1-2): 45-72.
32. Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C. and Hmielowski, J.D. (2011) Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party, Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, http://environment.yale.edu/climate/ files/PoliticsGlobalWarming2011.pdf.
33. McCright, A.M. (2009) The social bases of climate change knowledge, concern, and policy support in the U.S. General Public. Hofstra Law Review 37(4): 1017-1046.
34. McCright, A.M. (2010) The effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public. Population & Environment 32(1): 66-87.
35. McCright, A.M. (2011) Political orientation moderates Americans' beliefs and concern about climate change. Climatic Change 104(2): 243-253.
36. McCright, A.M. and Dunlap, R.E. (2011a) The politicization of climate change and political polarization in the American public's views of global warming. Sociological Quarterly 52(2): 155-194.
37. McCright, A.M. and Dunlap, R.E. (2011b) Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United States. Global Environmental Change 21(4): 1163-1172.
38. Moynihan, P., Langer, G. and Craighill, P. (2010) An end to a means: Partisanship, policy preferences and global warming. Paper presented at the 2010 AAPOR Annual Conference; 14 May, Chicago, Illinois.
39. National Centre for Social Research. (2009) British Social Attitudes Survey, 2009 [Computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], February 2011. SN: 6695, http://dx.doi.org/10.5072/UKDA-SN-6695-1.
40. Nisbet, M.C. (2009) Communicating climate change: Why frames matter to public engagement. Environment 51(2): 514-518.
41. Nisbet, M.C. and Myers, T. (2007) Trends: Twenty years and public opinion about global warming. Public Opinion Quarterly 71(3): 444-470.
42. O'Connor, R.E., Bord, R.J. and Fisher, A. (1999) Risk perceptions, general environmental beliefs, and willingness to address climate change. Risk Analysis 19(3): 461-471.
43. O'Connor, R.E., Bord, R.J., Yarnal, B. and Wiefek, N. (2002) Who wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Social Science Quarterly 83(1): 1-17.
44. Park, A., Curtice, J., Clery, E. and Bryson, C. (eds.) (2011) British Social Attitudes: The 27th Report. London: Sage.
45. Rogers, L. (2007) Climate change: Why we don't believe it. New Statesman 23 April, http://www .newstatesman.com/politics/2007/04/climate-change-british- opinion.
46. Rollinson, S. (2010) Changing dynamics of environmental politics in Britain: A case study of the UK climate change act. POLIS Journal 3: 1-38.
47. Shwom, R., Bidwell, D., Dan, A. and Dietz, T. (2010) Understanding U.S. public support for domestic climate change policies. Global Environmental Change 20(3): 472-482.
48. Tranter, B. (2011) Political divisions over climate change and environmental issues in Australia. Environmental Politics 20(1): 78-96.
49. Webster, B. (2010) Climate scientists hope independent reviews will reverse public's loss of trust. The Times 25 February.
50. Wood, B.D. and Vedlitz, A. (2007) Issue definition, information processing, and the politics of global warming. American Journal of Political Science 51(3): 552-568.
51. Zia, A. and Todd, A.M. (2010) Evaluating the effects of ideology on public understanding of climate change science: How to improve communication across ideological divides. Public Understanding of Science 19(6): 743-776.