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

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.”