Partisanship overcomes framing in shaping solar geoengineering perceptions: Evidence from a conjoint experiment

Area of Science:

• Climate Science
• Political Science
• Public Opinion Research

Background:

• Public perception of solar geoengineering (SG) as a climate change solution is understudied, particularly within the polarized US political context.
• Understanding how different narratives and information sources influence public attitudes toward emerging climate technologies is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of SG narratives (complementary, substitutive, moral hazard) and partisan information sources on public attitudes among American voters.
• To determine the relative importance of message framing versus source partisanship in shaping trust and support for SG.

Main Methods:

• A conjoint experiment was conducted with 2123 American voters.
• The experiment manipulated message frames and the partisan source of information to assess their influence on public opinion.

Main Results:

• Partisan alignment with the information source significantly influenced trust in the messenger and support for SG, outweighing message framing effects.
• Both Democrats and Republicans showed increased trust and support for SG when information originated from a copartisan source.
• Despite strong partisan influences on perception, policy preferences remained aligned with existing ideological baselines.

Conclusions:

• Partisanship is a dominant factor in shaping public perception of novel climate technologies like solar geoengineering, even with low public awareness.
• The findings underscore the significant challenges in depoliticizing public discourse surrounding climate change solutions and technologies.