O’Neill School – Bloomington

O’Neill faculty at NASPAA2021

Posted on October 15, 2021 by joboyd

Several members of the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs will be participating in panel events at the 2021 NASPAA Annual Conference, which is being held virtually from Oct. 25 through Oct. 29. This year’s conference theme is “Reimagining the Civic Square.” Scheduled to participate are:

Oct. 25, 2:30pm: IUPUI’s Doug Noonan will participate in “Urban-Serving Universities”

Oct. 26, 12:30pm: IUB’s Kirsten Grønbjerg will participate in “Nonprofit Management Education”

Oct. 28, 2:00pm: Dean Siân Mooney will participate in “University Budgeting: The Elusive Balance Between Equity and Growth”

Oct. 28, 3:00pm: IUPUI’s Adam Eckerd will participate in “Team Teaching as a Pedagogical Response to Pandemics, Protests, and Policymaking”

Oct. 28, 5:00pm: IUB’s James Perry will participate in “Reimagining Public Service: NASPAA and the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service”

Oct. 29, 10:00am: IUB’s Sanya Carley will participate in “MPA Core Revisions to Respond to a Rapidly Changing World”

Oct. 29, 11:00am: IUB’s Sean Nicholson-Crotty will participate in “Creating Inclusive Doctoral Programs”

Oct. 29, 11:00am: IUB’s Kirsten Grønbjerg will participate in “Evaluation of Service-Learning Components in the Classroom”

Oct. 29, 4:00pm: IUB’s R.J. Woodring will participate in “Expanding Undergraduate Engagement: NextGeneration Service Corps”

Oct. 29, 4:00pm: IUPUI’s Doug Noonan will participate in “Serving the Community: Linking Teaching and Learning to the Urban Laboratory”

The O’Neill School is pleased to be a platinum sponsor of this year’s NASPAA conference. For more information on the event, visit the NASPAA Annual Conference website.

Summer Abroad: London

Posted on October 15, 2021 by ebatman

Make the most of summer 2022 by studying abroad. We have programs – and scholarships – for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Here, Prof. William Foley shares the benefits of studying abroad with a spotlight on London. Interested? Applications open December 1.

What makes the London summer program special?
FOLEY: London is a splendid city, now over 2,100 years old and vying with Paris as the largest capital city of Europe. It is young, diverse, and filled with exciting sights to see and things to do, which you will remember forever. It is a city of stunning elegance with broad cobble stone streets, friendly people, and beautiful architecture. It is the only city in the world where you can walk the Strand in the steps of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Florence Nightingale, and many important people who preceded you. Also, using Eurostar and Ryan Air, it is the “gateway to all of Europe.”

Why should students study abroad?
FOLEY: The “poet” once wrote, “Life is a book, and if you do not travel you have read only the first chapter.”

What is one fun fact about you?
FOLEY: My favorite hobby is running. I run for at least an hour and a half every morning, and sometimes for two hours.

What types of students should apply to study abroad in London?
FOLEY: Students who have a keen sense of discovery and adventure, from all backgrounds, should join us and are roundly welcome!

What is your favorite part of running international programs?
FOLEY: Two things come to mind. One is teaching them about the Westminster System of Government – the basis of our democracy – and having all the guest speakers in class from U.K. government, plus visiting government sites as with Scotland Yard and the Royal High Courts of Justice, to name a few. The other is participating with the class at places they have never seen before. This includes seeing our students visiting Parliament and even sitting in House of Commons in the Prime Minister’s chair when not in session; being with our students for the Changing of the Guard, all wearing dress reds and large bearskin hats, at Buckingham Palace; having everybody enjoy a live concert in Hyde Park or a live soccer game at Wembley Stadium; and concluding the final visit with them, hosting a luncheon in the dining room overlooking the Thames of Westminster Abbey – the burial place of Kings and Queens – built in 960 AD.

Education employment grows statewide; concerns remain over salary, retention issues

Posted on October 8, 2021 by JHayes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Employment in Indiana’s education industry grew nearly 30 percent over the past two decades, but increased competition in wages and shortages in staffing have created a challenging environment, especially for public institutions, that is expected to continue. That’s according to a new report from the Indiana Nonprofits Project, which analyzed data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages from 1995 through 2019.

In Indiana, total employment in education grew 29 percent during that period, when it reached more than 250,000 paid employees, said Kirsten Grønbjerg, Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs at the O’Neill School and the Efroymson Chair (2001-2020) in Philanthropy at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.

Grønbjerg, who directs the Indiana Nonprofits Project, noted that education is a major industry at the national level with total expenditures in 2018-19 at $1.5 trillion. It is also one of the largest industries with significant nonprofit employment in both the U.S. and Indiana, second only to health care.

As detailed in the report, nonprofit employment in the education industry increased 83 percent over the 1995-2019 period in Indiana, more than twice as fast at total employment in the industry (29 percent) and more than six times faster than total employment across all industries (13 percent) in Indiana. Nonprofit payroll increased even faster, up 120 percent (adjusted for inflation); that was also faster than total education payroll (up 24 percent).

Despite the rapid growth, nonprofits accounted for only 16 percent of all those employed in the industry by 2019 (up from 11 percent in 1995), a distant second to government (79 percent), with for-profits trailing even further behind at 5 percent. However, these patterns differ considerably across the seven sub-industries.

‘Elementary and secondary schools’ is the largest subindustry, accounting for 63 percent of all jobs. However, almost all jobs (91 percent) are found in public schools, with nonprofits making up almost all other jobs.
‘Colleges and universities’ is the second largest subindustry, with 29 percent of all jobs. Almost two thirds of the jobs (64 percent) are accounted for by public universities; the rest are employed by nonprofit colleges and universities.
The remaining five subindustries account for only 8 percent of all education jobs. This includes junior colleges (all public employment) and a variety of other types of schools and educational support services. Nonprofits account for almost half of all educational support service jobs, but the vast majority (71 – 89 percent) of workers in various types of other schools are employed by for-profits.

Grønbjerg says that closer analysis suggests that Indiana’s education industry faces a number of challenges.

“This is especially true for elementary and secondary education where many public schools are thought to be failing to meet the needs of particularly low-income students. However, the property tax cap amendment in 2008 to the Indiana Constitution made it difficult for local school districts to raise the necessary funds for some critical needs including transportation, bus replacements, capital projects, and debt service,” she noted.

Although outside the period covered by the study, Grønbjerg adds that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in additional new expenses for schools (technology, cleaning, contact tracing), off-set in part by federal stimulus funding.

Indiana public schools have also struggled to recruit top teachers, and several efforts to increase teacher salaries have failed. The challenges faced by public schools to provide quality education have been further intensified by several school choice programs Indiana has enacted since 2009. Nationally, Indiana has been considered a leader in school choice, and the increased public funding for those programs has raised concerns from teacher organizations and public school administrators about diversion of support from public schools.

The combined effect of these policies help account for the stagnation of employment and payroll for employees in public elementary and secondary schools that the report documents, along with the steady increases in employment and payroll for nonprofit schools.

The nonprofit share of employment in this subindustry almost doubled over the 1995 to 2019 period (although still only 7 percent in 2019), as more students enrolled in private schools, supported at least in part with state funding. More than a quarter (28 percent) of all nonprofit education employees worked in elementary and secondary schools in 2019, giving them a vested interest in these policy developments.

There have also been important policy developments in higher education, where nonprofit workers account for more than a third (35 percent) of all such employees in Indiana in 2019. At the national level, policy issues have focused on high tuition cost (especially at private, elite colleges), high student loan burdens, and concerns about access for low-income and non-traditional students. Public universities receive some state funding, allowing them to offer lower tuition than nonprofit colleges, at least to state residents, but state funding has not kept up with operating costs.

Indiana has two large state university systems (Indiana University and Purdue University), a handful of smaller public institutions, and 30 smaller nonprofit colleges. The public and nonprofit institutions differ not only in size, but in the cost of tuition, the range and variety of specialties available to students, the types and quality of facilities, the nature of student experiences, and more. They compete with one another for students and staff, but they also compete with institutions at the national level for both, as well as for donations and research funding.

Indiana Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation Nonprofits face challenges over 25-year period, worsened by COVID-19 pandemic

Posted on October 8, 2021 by JHayes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The nonprofit arts, entertainment, and recreation (AER) industry is relatively small in Indiana, employing fewer than 7,000 workers in 2019, but it plays an important role in producing arts, culture and recreation services that enrich people’s lives. Whether serving niche markets or larger groups, these organizations make it possible for Hoosiers to attend the performing arts, engage in recreation, and visit museums, zoos, and historical sites.

As detailed in a new Indiana University report, Indiana’s nonprofit AER establishments have faced a number of challenges since 1995. However, they remain an important part of the overall AER industry, which otherwise is dominated by for-profit businesses, especially amusement parks, gambling establishments, and spectator sports.

The report, “Nonprofit Paid Employment in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation for Indiana, 1995-2019 was prepared by Kirsten Grønbjerg, Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs at the O’Neill School at Indiana University and the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy (2001-2020) at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI together with Anjali Bhatt, a recent graduate of Indiana University Bloomington.

According to the report’s findings, total employment in Indiana’s AER industry grew 81 percent between 1995 to 2019, when it reached almost 45,000 employees. That is much faster than nonprofit employment in the industry, up only 14 percent in the same time frame, and much faster than total employment across all industries (up 13 percent). For-profit employment in AER increased 66 percent, more than four times faster than nonprofit employment.

Nonprofit payroll for AER grew at nearly twice the rate of employment, at 26 percent (adjusted for inflation), to $188 million in 2019. But that was also much lower than for-profit payroll, up 173 percent over the period.

The three major AER subindustries show distinct patterns of nonprofit contributions.

The amusement subindustry accounts for the most nonprofit jobs in the AER industry, but the jobs are almost entirely concentrated in “other amusement” such as fitness and recreational sports centers, golf courses, recreational day camps.
The museums and similar institutions subindustry employs fewer nonprofit workers, but they dominate the industry, accounting for about 84 percent of all jobs. Most of the rest are employed by government, primarily nature parks and some museums and historical sites.
The performing arts and related industries subindustry has relatively few nonprofit employees, primarily concentrated in performing arts companies and some arts promotion. For profits dominate spectator sports and promoters and agents in the subindustry.

Although nonprofit AER employment and payroll (adjusted for inflation) have increased since 1995, almost all of the growth occurred before 2000. Moreover, average annual nonprofit wages have remained low (for some sub-industries averaging less than $20,000 per year),reflecting the challenge of rising costs in the industry, the so-called “cost disease,” where production costs rise faster than the volume of services. Also, access to digital media is likely to have reduced the demand for live experiences. In Indiana, one study found that almost 68 percent of adults consumed art through electronic media in 2017.

“These developments suggest that rising costs across the industry have made it harder for nonprofits to adapt in the same ways that for-profits can – they lack easy access to technology or capital resources,” said Grønbjerg.

Though these data do not extend past 2019, other research suggests that nonprofit challenges in the AER industry were further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. All AER establishments were hit hard as venues were forced to close (reducing income) and technological innovations became more important (but required investments).

“The COVID-19 pandemic could devastate smaller AER nonprofits,” Grønbjerg said. “Right now, many are struggling just to stay open. And we expect this trend, unfortunately, will continue.”

On the positive side, Indiana allotted $10 million of CARES Act funding for AER businesses in response to the pandemic. However, smaller local nonprofits may see disproportionate impacts of the pandemic for years to come.

The report, “Nonprofit Paid Employment in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation for Indiana,” uses data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) prepared by the Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) and analyzed by the Indiana Nonprofits Project.

Healthcare workforce usually remains steady during economic turmoil, according to new study from Indiana University

Posted on October 1, 2021 by JHayes

A portrait of Dr. Kosali Simon — Kosali Simon

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the economy and the healthcare workforce remain in the spotlight.

A new study examining the historic relationship between local economic conditions and healthcare employment during past recessions found the healthcare sector is particularly stable with respect to economic turmoil. In fact, when counties experience more severe economic downturns, healthcare employment seems to increase. The findings provide important insight that can help leaders determine employment policy during turbulent times.

“Understanding how the healthcare sector responds to economic conditions is important for policymakers seeking to ensure an adequate supply of healthcare workers, as well as for those directing displaced workers into new jobs,” said Kosali Simon, Herman B Wells Endowed Professor in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Bloomington and co-author on the study. “Our study provides a backdrop for studying the economic impact COVID-19 is having on this sector compared to economic downturns of the past.”

Simon and her co-authors Marcus Dillender of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Andrew Friedson of the University of Colorado Denver, and Cong Gian MPA’12, a Ph.D. candidate in the O’Neill School examined the impact of macroeconomic conditions on both the healthcare labor market and the pipeline of healthcare workers in the U.S. receiving healthcare degrees during 2005-2017, a timeframe prior to the current pandemic. The study focused on four subsets: nursing care facilities, home health care services, office of physicians, and general medical and surgical hospitals.

They found that healthcare employment as a share of total county employment is positively related to the unemployment rate. A 10-point increase in the local unemployment rate was associated with an approximately 1.27 percent increase in healthcare’s share of local employment.

However, the relationship is different depending on the overall direction of the national economy. An increase in the local unemployment rate during a national recession is associated with stronger growth in the healthcare sector than a similar-sized increase in the local unemployment rate during a period of national economic growth, according to the study.

They found the share of healthcare graduates is also positively related to the unemployment rate. An estimated 10-point increase in the unemployment rate was associated with a 1.8 percent increase in healthcare’s share of postsecondary graduates. It is also different based on the state of the national economy. However, an increase in the local unemployment rate during a recession is associated with weaker growth in the healthcare sector than a similar-sized increase in the unemployment rate during a period of growth.

Within subset categories, the study found the strongest relationship between local unemployment and healthcare’s share in employment is in physicians’ offices, and there was also a strong association when it comes to general medical and surgical hospitals. However, home healthcare services seemed largely unaffected by local unemployment.

While the state of the local economy does not seem to have a strong effect on the share of the workforce employed by hospitals and physicians’ offices, nursing care facilities grow their workforce more robustly when both the local and national economies are in a downturn, the study found.

“Even during the Great Recession, which saw employment fall in most sectors, employment in healthcare held steady and grew as a share of all employment,” Simon said. “This suggests that the healthcare workforce is systematically different than the U.S. workforce taken as a whole but experience from the Great Recession does not necessarily generalize to the most recent recession.”

Simon said much remains unknown about the adjustments and lasting impacts for the healthcare sector associated with the COVID-19 era. But these findings can help provide a backdrop as policymakers consider ways to sustain the healthcare sector during future economic and public health turbulence.

“These findings show that more research is needed on types of curriculum that build resilience in healthcare workers, so when there is a future crisis, the sectors that are crucial in dealing with the crisis have the support they need,” Simon said.

IU joins new USGS-funded Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center

Posted on September 30, 2021 by joboyd

Indiana University is collaborating on a new Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and dedicated to advancing science in response to the climate crisis in the Midwest.

A consortium of eight universities and natural resource organizations, the Midwest CASC will be hosted at the University of Minnesota and, in addition to IU, will include the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the College of Menominee Nation, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, and The Nature Conservancy. The US Department of the Interior announced the newest of nine regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers on Sept. 29.

IU’s participation in the center will be led by the Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI), IU’s transdisciplinary hub for environmental change and resilience work. Launched in 2017 as part of IU’s Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge, ERI will contribute its experience working with communities to develop resilience-related tools and resources and implement equitable climate solutions. ERI Executive Director Gabriel Filippelli and IU Distinguished Professor of Biology Ellen Ketterson, who served as the institute’s founding director, will represent IU on the Midwest CASC leadership team. Sarah Mincey, an O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs faculty member, serves as ERI’s managing director. Two other O’Neill School faculty—Shahzeen Attari and Kim Novick—also serve on the institute’s steering committee.

“It’s not enough to measure the impacts of climate change. We also need to enact just solutions that work across sectors, communities, and ecosystems,” said Filippelli. “That’s where ERI really shines, and that’s one of the big things we bring to this new center. We look forward to sharing with our consortium partners our expertise in helping Midwestern communities understand their vulnerabilities to climate change and make plans to become more resilient.”

Together, the Midwest CASC consortium organizations will work closely with federal, state and tribal entities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to support management and protection of land, water, and natural resources with actionable climate science, innovation, and decision support tools.

The CASC will also fund individual research projects and work collaboratively across the consortium on key issues in the region that involve adaptation practitioners. Research will focus on climate adaptation to better understand vulnerabilities to climate change, development of ecologically and culturally appropriate adaptation actions, and creating monitoring methods designed to continuously improve outcomes through changing conditions.

Mincey said the CASC will lead to funding opportunities for faculty within the O’Neill School, and elsewhere within the university, who specialize in key environmental areas the new center will address.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to connect our talented faculty and students at both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses with the research goals of the Midwest CASC,” said Ketterson. “Working with our partners in the region, we will seek to better understand and address the myriad changes being experienced across our lands due to climate change.”

The consortium will pay special attention to tribal concerns and build off the unique and robust experience of Midwest Tribes with adaptation science and practice. This includes a fellowship program for graduate students and a summer research experience for undergraduates designed to enhance tribal participation. Another key focus will be the interplay of natural resources, forestry, streams and wetlands, and agricultural and urban areas—all land uses that are prominent in the Midwest.

The partnership will be effective immediately, with a formal ribbon cutting celebration planned on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus later this fall.

New study on homelessness in Greene County finds lack of resources to address issue

Posted on September 30, 2021 by JHayes

Laura Littlepage, IU Clinical Associate Professor

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – People who experience homelessness in rural areas are often unseen, sleeping in wooded areas, abandoned buildings or other substandard accommodations. This “rural homelessness” is an issue in Greene County, Indiana, where a new study looked at the number of those affected and suggestions to address the issue.

In a new report, Indiana University O’Neill School clinical associate professor Laura Littlepage detailed the data gathered.

Key findings include:

At least 51 people (24 adults and 27 children) are experiencing homelessness in Greene County, including those who live in buildings with tarps for roofs, missing floors, and no utilities as well as in tents, cars and campers.
Greene County currently has no shelters for those experiencing homelessness.
Rural communities are uniquely positioned to help end homelessness through strong social networks and a commitment to taking care of neighbors.

“Preventative services for at-risk populations are key to decreasing homelessness,” said Littlepage. “Far fewer resources are needed proactively compared to organizations or individuals trying to address homelessness after it occurs.”

To aid in prevention as well as meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness in Greene County, the report details several recommendations, including:

Create a task force of key community partners who are committed to addressing homelessness and housing insecurity, including a volunteer repair program to prevent homes from becoming uninhabitable.
Utilize funds available from the Rural Development, HUD and community action agencies for prevention projects.
Utilize the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which provides a tax incentive to construct or rehabilitate affordable rental housing.
Create a “Help Hub” to list all service providers in the community.

Click here to read the full report.

Why add a minor from O’Neill?

Posted on September 29, 2021 by ebatman

Customize your degree and boost your skillset with a minor or certificate from O’Neill.

Check out the O’Neill Minors Fair on Wednesday, Oct. 6, from 11am-2pm in the SPEA Atrium to connect with Lead Academic Advisor Brett Reardon and explore ways you can focus on the environment, health, policy, management, or the arts.

Why add a minor in Healthcare Management & Policy?

Kate Carens, majoring in Supply Chain Management and Business Analytics with a minor in Healthcare Management & Policy

Carens chose her minor because it allows her to tie her passion for healthcare with the business skillset she’s gaining from the Kelley School of Business. Through O’Neill, she’s had the ability to interact with a diverse group of individuals with different perspectives — allowing her to learn how health policies and strategies affect others across industries. By better understanding U.S. healthcare, Carens hopes to be able to cater well-rounded supply chain solutions to healthcare clients while keeping in mind how these decisions affect different patient groups.

Why add a minor in Law & Public Policy?

Jessalyn Bar, majoring in Management and Marketing with a minor in Law & Public Policy

Barr is interested in pursuing law after graduation. She wanted to learn how law and public policy are interconnected — and what that means for society. Her minor has given her a better understanding of the U.S. legal system, including how laws are made and how the branches of government work together. She hopes that this minor will help her hit the ground running in law school and make her a better educated, well-versed citizen.

New study finds recreational marijuana liberalization policies increase maternal hospitalizations involving marijuana but have limited impact on newborn health

Posted on September 27, 2021 by JHayes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A new study on state recreational marijuana liberalization found increases in maternal hospitalizations involving marijuana but limited impact on newborn health.

The study is led by Angelica Meinhofer, Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, with coauthors from University of North Carolina Wilmington, RTI International, and from Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (Professor Kosali Simon, a Herman B Wells Endowed Professor and the campus’s associate vice provost for health sciences). The team found that the proportion of maternal hospitalizations with marijuana use disorder increased by 23 percent (0.3 percentage points) in the first three years after recreational marijuana laws were implemented. The increases were larger in states with legalized commercial sales of marijuana.

The study (forthcoming in the Journal of Health Economics) was released today as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Researchers studied the effects of both medical marijuana laws (MML) and recreational marijuana laws (RML) on perinatal health (issues affecting women from three months before childbirth up to one year after childbirth), an important question for policy makers as marijuana use among pregnant women increased 103% between 2003 and 2017. As of today, 17 states have implemented recreational marijuana laws and 36 states and DC implemented medical marijuana laws.

Additional key findings include:

RMLs lead to a decrease in maternal hospitalization involving a tobacco use disorder diagnosis, yielding a net zero effect over maternal hospitalizations involving any substance use disorder after RML.
RMLs were not associated with statistically significant changes in newborn health, suggesting limited impacts.
MMLs were not associated with statistically significant changes in maternal substance use disorders nor newborn health.

The types of newborn health outcomes examined included low birth weight, low gestational age, congenital anomalies, respiratory conditions, feeding problems, neonatal drug withdrawal syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, and prenatal exposure to noxious substances.

“These findings are neither an endorsement nor an indictment of marijuana use. That’s for each patient and their doctor to discuss,” said Simon. “What this study tells us is evidence on the impact of the laws by looking at data close to 16 million hospital births in 34 states over years 2007-2018 as well as birth certificates in all states from 2007-2019.”

To read the full article, click here.

Indiana residents largely support decarbonization as partisan opposition continues over climate change, economic concerns

Posted on September 20, 2021 by JHayes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Decarbonizing the energy system is necessary to address climate change, yet the transition to low-carbon energy resources has been slow. Climate change remains a politically polarizing issue across the United States. Now, a new study from researchers at Indiana University details what residents of Indiana, a fossil fuel dependent state, think about the current and future energy mix and the state’s energy policy.

In the new report, Deidra Miniard, a PhD student at the O’Neill School for Public and Environmental Affairs, and Shahzeen Attari, associate professor at the O’Neill School, interviewed residents across Indiana to identify the motivations and perceptions behind their preferences for energy policy as well as their support of or opposition to local and national energy policies.

Previous work found that citizens across the U.S. have a shared vision of a future that relies on renewable energy sources, but partisan division impacted policy support. This new report dives deeper into the previous work with new key findings that include:

A majority of people want a decarbonized future energy mix for the state of Indiana, reducing carbon and relying primarily on renewable resources (particularly solar and wind) and significantly decreasing the use of fossil fuels.
Support for decarbonization is driven by goals of protecting the environment and public health, reducing pollution, improving the economy, using affordable and available resources, and holding polluters accountable.
Opposition to decarbonization is driven, in part, by concerns about the economy and jobs (particularly in the coal industry), lack of familiarity with some renewable sources (hydroelectricity, geothermal, biomass), and concerns about who benefits from policies.
Climate change is not a strong motivating factor and was rarely discussed by participants unless prompted. Climate change is a concern primarily among Democrats and Independents.
Among partisan differences, a higher proportion of Democrats are in support of decarbonization compared to Republicans, with more Democrats citing environmental factors and climate change as motivators whereas more Republicans described economic concerns.
Participants remain risk averse to nuclear energy.

“When people look to the future, they agree that they want an energy system that relies primarily on low carbon energy sources, though there is division on the policies to get there,” said Miniard. “Our work shows, for Indiana, a fossil fuel-reliant state, participants still want a decarbonized future. However, climate change isn’t the most salient motivating factor. Rather, participants are driven by nuanced reasons dependent upon energy resource and energy policy.”