Perceptions of scientific dissent undermine public support for environmental policy

• Published in: Environmental science & policy Vol. 38; pp. 173 - 177
• Main Authors: Aklin, Michaël, Urpelainen, Johannes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Americans; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Environmental policy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; perceptions (cognitive); Public opinion; Scientific uncertainty; Skepticism; Survey experiment; surveys; Scientific uncertainty; Skepticism; Public opinion; Survey experiment; Environmental policy; Uncertainty; Environment impact; Perception
• ISSN: 1462-9011; 1873-6416
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2013.10.006

•Survey experiment on public support for environmental policy at different levels of scientific certainty.•Even modest amounts of scientific dissent undermine public support for environmental policy.•Negative effect of scientific dissent on public support does not depend on respondent's socioeconomic characteristics. This article shows that even modest amounts of scientific dissent reduce public support for environmental policy. A survey experiment with 1000 Americans demonstrates that small skeptical scientific minorities can cast significant doubt among the general public on the existence of an environmental problem and reduce support for addressing it. Public support for environmental policy is maximized when the subjects receive no information about the scientific debate, indicating that the general public's default assumption is a very high degree of scientific consensus. Accordingly, a stronger scientific consensus will not generate public support for environmental policy, unless skeptical voices become almost silent.