Global Climate Concern and Local Environmental Vulnerability: Comparing Residents of Industrial-Proximity and Greener Neighborhoods in North Carolina

Abstract This exploratory mixed-methods study is part of a Department of Energy (DOE) grant that examines whether residents of preselected lower-resource, industrial-proximity neighborhoods differ from residents of higher-resource, greener neighborhoods in (1) broader attitudes toward global warming, and (2) perceptions of local environmental conditions. Focus-group input informed an online survey of 153 respondents across two ZIP-code clusters in North Carolina. Quantitative measures included a five-item global-warming attitude scale (α = .849) and a ten-item perceived environmental conditions scale (α = .922), complemented by open-ended questions about heat coping, green space, behavioral effects, emergency services, and government responsiveness. Independent-samples t tests showed a small difference in global-warming attitudes with residents of industrial-proximity ZIP codes indicating somewhat less concern over issues tied to global warming than residents of greener ZIP codes (M = 2.78 vs. 2.45; t (151) = 1.995, p = .048). In contrast, residents of industrial-proximity ZIP codes reported substantially higher negativity vis-à-vis local environmental conditions (M = 3.059 vs. 1.96; t (141) = 7.236, p < .001). Qualitative responses were consistent with this local-global contrast. While lower-resource respondents expressed high levels of concern over the impact of rising heat, air quality, limited cooling resources, and the lack of responsiveness of local government to the immediate concerns of residents in their communities, higher-resource respondents expressed less concern due to access to air conditioning, tree cover, parks, or private amenities. The findings thus suggest that localized environmental vulnerability and broader climate concern need not move together. Because the sample was community-recruited and not probability-based, results should be interpreted as exploratory rather than population-representative.