WHAT DRIVES PUBLIC OPINION TOWARDS FEDERAL LEGISLATION INVOLVING CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS?

Abstract

Energy policy is politically contentious in Pennsylvania, a swing state with an immense role in national elections. As the United States addresses the climate crisis, public support among Pennsylvanians for clean energy could prove pivotal. This study investigates the effects of different frames—economic versus environmental—on Pennsylvanians' attitudes towards clean energy investments, with attention to heterogeneity by political-party affiliation. In an original survey experiment with 1,212 respondents, participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an economic-framing treatment, an environmental-framing treatment, or a control group. Analysis shows that economic framing has the stronger effect in the pooled sample. It is particularly strong among independent voters. Democrats, however, are more influenced by environmental framing. These results suggest that when targeting political messages, economic framing should be used for independents, environmental framing for Democrats. Republicans were not affected by either frame, and advocates might conserve resources by not seeking to influence them. That said, when only blanket messaging is possible, economic framing is preferable—especially because Democrats show high levels of support regardless of the treatment group. These insights can inform communication strategies on clean energy policy, particularly in the swing state of Pennsylvania.