Six Americas

The Six Americas studies [Leiserowitz et al., 2013] suggest that the category labeled “dismissives,” those who actively reject climate change science, might not be persuadable by any means that the science is worth learning about. Their ideological convictions and core values may simply be in conflict with the implications of the fundamental findings of climate change science. However, they are a small minority of the general population. The “doubtful, “disengaged,” and “cautious” categories in the Six Americas study might well turn out to be receptive to the contemplation and ranking approaches studied by Howell and Shepperd. In any case, the extension of their study methodology to the climate issue seems promising and worthwhile.