Study suggests US politicians support climate action when linked to other environmental issues

The US House of Representatives is more likely to vote on climate action when it is linked to other environmental issues, according to a survey published on September 25, 2024 in an open access journal. PLOS Climate by Kayla Morton of the University of Washington, Seattle and colleagues.

Climate change is a divisive issue in US politics. Although Congress has not passed many climate-related bills in the past two decades, the House of Representatives has voted many climate-related bills and resolutions, so it provide an opportunity to examine the factors that influence politicians to support climate legislation.

In this study, Morton and colleagues investigate how climate-related elections are affected when climate legislation is linked to other environmental issues.

The authors compiled data from the League of Conservation Voters on 77 climate-related legislative votes in the House of Representatives between 2007-2021. They found that climate legislation tends to get more votes when paired with legislation focused on air pollution or environmental justice, but climate legislation gets less support when paired with legislation related to water or transport pollution. In all cases, Democrats have shown more support for climate legislation than Republicans.

These results suggest that linking climate action with other environmental processes affects the level of political support certain laws receive, an important insight into what influencing US politicians to support climate action.

The authors believe that this study uses only one body’s definitions of climate and environmental laws, and that future studies could examine a wider range of environmental laws, as well as other factors that may affect support for climate action.

The authors add, “Climate policy is a highly divisive issue in the United States, so it is important to understand where policy success is likely to occur. Media relations help policymakers address a pressing issue. of the world on climate change while bringing victory for their district.”