Beyond denial: climate delay discourses and public opinion on government climate action in the United States

Discourses of climate delay increasingly permeate debates on climate action, yet studies examining the prevalence of public beliefs aligning with climate delay discourses – and their potential consequences for attitudes toward government climate action – are currently lacking. Past research has identified twelve discourses that acknowledge the existence of climate change yet justify inaction or inadequate responses. We design 48 survey items to measure the prevalence of beliefs consistent with these discourses via a representative web-based survey in the United States (n = 1,580). We then analyze the statistical relationship between these beliefs and public demand for government climate action as well as support for climate policies. Our results show that while beliefs consistent with most climate delay discourses are widespread in the U.S. some are more closely related to policy preferences. Our findings may therefore guide targeted counter-narratives to more effectively increase public demand andsupport for urgent climate policymaking.