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In The Wake Of The Spill: Environmental Views Along The Gulf Coast, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Thomas G. Safford, Jessica D. Ulrich

Sociology

Abstract

Objectives

We analyze patterns in environmental views of Gulf Coast residents, in the wake of the 2010 oil spill. To what extent do spill-related and other environmental views vary with individual characteristics, personal experience with the spill, or characteristics of place?

Methods

About 2,000 residents of selected coastal regions in Louisiana and Florida were interviewed by telephone in late summer 2010.

Results

One-quarter of the respondents said that their environmental views had changed as a result of the spill. Despite reporting more change, more spill effects, and greater threats from climate-induced sea-level rise, Louisiana respondents were less likely to …

Did The Arctic Ice Recover? Demographics Of True And False Climate Facts, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Abstract

Beliefs about climate change divide the U.S. public along party lines more distinctly than hot social issues. Research finds that better-educated orinformed respondents are more likelytoalign with their partiesonclimate change. This information-elite polarization resembles a process of biased assimilation first described in psychological experiments. In nonexperimental settings, college graduates could be prone to biased assimilation if they more effectively acquire information that supports their beliefs. Recent national and statewide survey data show response patterns consistent with biased assimilation (and biased guessing) contributing to the correlation observed between climate beliefs and knowledge. The survey knowledge questions involve key, uncontroversial observations …