Keep quiet on climate: Assessing public response to seven renewable energy frames in the Western United States

Support for renewable energy is often solicited by leveraging concern about environmental problems such as climate change. However, the environment - and especially climate change - is hyper-polarized amongst the American public, and non-environmental justifications for renewable energy may resonate more broadly. Using a 2016 mail survey of individuals living in five states in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., we examine predictors of public approval of renewable energy usage, approval of a 20% renewable portfolio standard policy, and agreement with seven frames for renewable energy, of which four referenced the environment and three did not. We build upon previous research by analyzing geographic variation in frame agreement and by testing a religious environmental stewardship and resource-conservation frame. Results indicate high approval renewable energy but mixed support for the policy measure. Respondents on average agreed with all seven renewable energy frames, with energy security and energy diversification receiving the most support. Of the four environmental frames, air pollution and resource conservation had the most support, and the religion and climate frames had the least. We note variation by state, particularly on support for the policy measure. Political ideology and belief in human-caused global warming were consistent predictors, though gender, residence in a metro county, neoliberal ideology, and state of residence were also important. Overall, our results echo other research indicating that non-climate-based frames for renewable energy are likely to garner broader public support, but we suggest that the significance of this finding is particularly important in certain political and geographical contexts.