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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Thesis
An Exploration of Age Differences in Climate Policy Support Among Republicans
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
05/2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000007460
Abstract
One of the primary barriers to implementing climate change policy within the United States has been a history of opposition from Republicans. Historically, this opposition was characterized by a lack of belief in climate change, but climate belief has steadily increased across all groups in the United States over the last 20 years. While belief has increased, partisan divides on climate policy remain strong. However, recent research indicates that younger Republicans are more likely to support climate policy than older Republicans, and that the relationship between age and policy support is stronger for Republicans than for Democrats. I argue that this shift remains underexplored, and that it is at least partially a result of differences among Republicans across three factors: climate anxiety, experiences with extreme weather, and more negative attitudes toward capitalism, all of which may be impacting younger Republicans to a greater extent. I apply a series of regression analyses to a large non-probability sample of Republicans (n = 1,249) to determine the significance of these three factors. Results show all three factors to be significant, although the importance of each individual factor shifts by age bracket. These results support existing data showing the shift of young Republicans towards increased climate policy support and begin to work on a basis through which researchers can determine the reasons for such a shift. I conclude with a discussion of the potential implications of potential climate policy depolarization, as well as future paths for research on climate policy and conservatism.
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Details
- Title
- An Exploration of Age Differences in Climate Policy Support Among Republicans
- Creators
- Cassie Rueda
- Contributors
- Dylan Bugden (Chair)Mariana Amorim (Committee Member)Erik Johnson (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Sociology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 51
- Identifiers
- 99901221149201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis