Knowledge, information, and views of climate change: An examination of coastal stakeholders along the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The ability to understand complex issues is essential to adequately evaluate risk and policy alternatives. Stakeholders are more likely to understand and influence these issues. While stakeholders that specialize in coastal regions have many issues that demand their attention, there are a few that potentially affect everyone within this community. We utilize in-depth interviews to examine climate change attitudes, and the influence of knowledge, information, and institutions within a sample of stakeholders along the Gulf Coast in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. Our analysis is the first to reveal that institutional forces may influence climate change attitudes for members of that institution. Furthermore, we learn that different sources of information directly influence these attitudes.