Climate change is a far more polarized issue in the US than abroad because it has become associated with identity-based culture wars. What follows is a recipe for countering that. The good news is that we can message climate change in ways that can broaden support; the bad news is that this will require considerable change in the ways that environmentalists currently talk about climate change. Research shows that liberals fail to use arguments that connect with their audiences at twice the rate as conservatives. We need to change that. Start by remembering that addressing climate change is while white college grads’ third highest priority, it’s ranks 17th for the average American.

MESSAGING DO’S AND DON’TS FOR BRIDGING THE DIPLOMA DIVIDE

DO’S

1. Extreme weather is threatening the livelihood of blue-collar Americans who work outside for a living. The average American prioritizes the economy more strongly than college grads—and climate change less. Worries about jobs have worked against climate action; the first step is to change that.

2. Ill-considered tariffs are raising energy prices for hardworking Americans. Inflation was the top concern for Americans in the 2024 election, yet ill-considered tariffs will raise energy prices. Lots of energy is imported from Canada (10%-30% tariff) and Mexico (25%), and the 50% tax on steel and aluminum will affect energy companies, too. Saul Griffith’s calculations suggest that the average American household could save roughly $1900 a year in an all-electric economy. Two-thirds of low-income Americans and 40% of middle-income ones – but only 18% of the affluent – worry about being able to pay their bills.

3. Disinvesting in wind and solar eliminates US’s ability to compete with China in the race to capture a rapidly-growing market. Working-class Americans are more patriotic than college-educated ones. Leverage this by arguing that disinvesting in wind and solar means the US lies back and lets China dominate those lucrative markets. A study of red-state Indiana found that 94% of respondents wanted more solar energy; 88% wanted more wind energy. Younger Republicans (78%) are dramatically more likely than older ones (53%) to prioritize renewables. People overestimate the percentage of power we now get from renewables, so they need to know it’s still small  – but could be much higher within 10 years with the right investments.

4. Transitioning to an all-electric economy means 25 million new jobs, many blue-collar, in areas left behind. Focus not on the causes of climate change but on the solution: we need to rewire America, which will require a World War II level of investment to create 25 million new jobs, many of them blue-collar. Work by Saul Griffith and Jesse Jenkins details what’s needed. Wind turbine technician (median pay: $56,200) is the second-fastest growing occupation in America: this should be on every environmentalist’s lips.  

5. Focus on pollution and public health. Across class, people are worried about pollution, so a strong argument is the need to shift to renewables as a way of cleaning up pollution. The Indiana study found widespread concern over air pollution from coal, oil spills, and industrial accidents. By contrast, solar and wind are seen as clean and free. Shifting to an all-electric energy system will help lower rates of asthma, heart attacks, and strokes.

6. In coastal and fire-prone areas, tap class resentments against big business. 74% of 72% of Americans are critical of big business. Point out that insurance companies are have changed underwriting rules. Big business is making sure it won’t get stuck with the bill for fires and floods caused by climate change. Instead, the life savings of ordinary Americans are being wiped out.

7. In rural areas, tap into farmers’ loyalty to tradition and locale – and their need for cash. Use farmers as messengers to the effect that, “I can no longer grow what my grandfather grew on this land.” Also, highlight how wind and solar farms can provide much-needed additional cash flow for family farms.

8.  Understand why environmentalism is associated with elites. From Teslas to Whole Foods, cultural elites and the 1% display their commitment to climate through expensive consumer goods; non-elites refer scornfully to Whole Foods as “whole paycheck.”  This strengthens the far-right’s claim that environmentalism is the plaything of the elites who don’t care about jobs and gas prices. So do fights over public lands in which cultural elites heap scorn on blue-collar traditions of leisure (RVs, hunting, fishing) in favor of keeping lands pristine or limited to white-collar traditions of leisure (hiking, backpacking, rock-climbing). Environmentalists need to make sure they don’t inadvertently reinforce this narrative.

DON’TS

1. Don’t frame the issue as “climate change.” Alas, climate change has been so thoroughly demonized and politicized that it’s not the best frame for persuading people who don’t already agree on the need to decarbonize.

 2. Don’t call people “climate deniers” denying a “climate crisis.” If you insult people’s intelligence, you will not persuade them. Embrace as a working assumption that people resistant to effective climate change measures are more worried about the end of the month than the end of the world. 

3. Don’t call people “science deniers.” Resistance to the authority of science is becoming part of the identity of rural people, who feel talked down to and ignored by experts. Don’t blame less educated Americans for our poor science education – and recognize that suspicion of experts reflects anger of non-elites against elites who are seen as “pulling rank” on them.

 4. Don’t insult people in fossil fuel jobs. A key reason Latinos in southern Texas swung for Trump in 2020 was concerned that Democrats threatened value blue-collar fossil fuel jobs. Adopt a tone of sincere regret that coal and oil are contracting as industries. To quote Stacey Abrams & Lauren Groh-Wargo, “A push for environmental legislation to restrict the use of fossil fuels must engage the thousands of union workers employed by industries reliant on those energy sources.”

 5. Don’t frame the issue as carbon pricing. Carbon pricing, beloved of economists, does not work politically in the US. It is just too easy to frame this as a new tax in a country where there has been a “colossal drop” in the public’s inclination to favor higher taxes (alas).

 6. No polar bears. Messaging about polar bears and the like reinforces the message that elites care more about wildlife thousands of miles away then jobs for people here at home. Such messaging also links concern about climate change to elite taste for exotic travel, e.g., to the Antarctic.