Environmental Awareness and Public Support for Pro

Authors: Thomas G Safford Karma C Norman Megan Henly Katherine E Mills Phillip S Levin

Publish Date: 2014/02/01

Volume: 53, Issue: 4, Pages: 757-768

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Abstract

In an effort to garner consensus around environmental programs practitioners have attempted to increase awareness about environmental threats and demonstrate the need for action Nonetheless how beliefs about the scope and severity of different types of environmental concerns shape support for management interventions are less clear Using data from a telephone survey of residents of the Puget Sound region of Washington we investigate how perceptions of the severity of different coastal environmental problems along with other social factors affect attitudes about policy options We find that selfassessed environmental understanding and views about the seriousness of pollution habitat loss and salmon declines are only weakly related Among survey respondents women young people and those who believe pollution threatens Puget Sound are more likely to support policy measures such as increased enforcement and spending on restoration Conversely selfidentified Republicans and individuals who view current regulations as ineffective tend to oppose governmental actions aimed at protecting and restoring Puget Sound Support for one policy measure—tax credits for environmentallyfriendly business practices—is not significantly affected by political party affiliation These findings demonstrate that environmental awareness can influence public support for environmental policy tools However the nature of particular management interventions and other social forces can have important mitigating effects and need to be considered by practitioners attempting to develop environmentrelated social indicators and generate consensus around the need for action to address environmental problemsFunding for this project was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—National Marine Fisheries Service the US Environmental Protection Agency grant DW13923277 and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act the survey presented here was approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Office of Management Budget under OMB Control Number 06480641 The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire and Dr Larry Hamilton for his assistance with statistical analyses

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