"A December 2011 public opinion study by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland
and its affiliate, the Program on International Policy Attitudes, found that the religious and moral beliefs of
a majority of Americans can lead them to directly or indirectly prefer policies that would address threats to
the environment and mitigate the effects of global climate change. Yet, the study also confirmed how few
believers initially think of climate change and other threats to the environment in religious or moral terms.
The wide-ranging ways in which questions about environmental issues can be framed could help to explain
how believers who don’t readily identify addressing environmental threats as spiritual obligations are able
to engage these beliefs. Other possible explanations include (1) that Americans think about their religious
and moral beliefs more as they apply to people’s personal lives than to big-picture, long-term issues such as
climate change and/or (2) that spirituality and public policy engage different cognitive modes and that
individuals are willing to act out of a moral construct without scientific reason. Based on these survey
findings, this paper suggests that finding ways to overcome these obstacles and engage individuals on the
basis of their religious and moral beliefs could be an effective way to increase public support for action and
policies aimed at mitigating environmental threats, including global climate change."
For Full Article:
Religious Views on Climate Change Mitigation by Jonas Siegel, Research Associate (jsiegel@umd.edu)
Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (USA)
Religious Views on Climate Change Mitigation by Jonas Siegel, Research Associate (jsiegel@umd.edu)
Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (USA)