Public agreement with misinformation about wind farms

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Environmental Studies
• Energy Policy

Background:

• Public opinion on wind farms is influenced by misinformation campaigns.
• Understanding the prevalence and drivers of public agreement with wind farm contrarian claims is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the extent of public agreement with contrarian claims about wind farms.
• To identify the worldview predictors of this agreement.
• To explore the association between agreement with contrarian claims and support for wind energy.

Main Methods:

• Survey research conducted across six nationally quota-based samples in the US, UK, and Australia (N=6008).
• Analysis of agreement with multiple contrarian claims regarding wind farms.
• Regression analyses to identify predictors, including conspiracist and pro-ecological worldviews.

Main Results:

• Over 25% of respondents agreed with at least half of the contrarian claims.
• Agreement with diverse claims suggests a unified belief system favoring wind farm rejection.
• Conspiracist worldview positively predicted agreement, while pro-ecological worldview negatively predicted it.

Conclusions:

• Wind farm contrarianism is a mainstream phenomenon, not a fringe issue.
• Public agreement with contrarian claims is rooted in underlying worldviews.
• This contrarianism presents a significant challenge for accelerating the renewable energy transition.