Personal damage from tropical disasters increases Republicans’ support for climate change policies

Abstract

Climate change is a global threat requiring collective action. Yet, in the United States, many Republicans dismiss the issue. Does experiencing increased frequency of tropical disasters or suffering increased personal damage from tropical disasters affect Republicans’ concern about climate change and their attitudes toward climate policy? Using administrative voter file data and an original representative survey of Florida registered voters, we find that experiencing disasters and especially suffering greater damage is associated with greater concerns about climate change and support for climate mitigation policies. Republicans who personally experienced damage from tropical disasters are more concerned about climate change and show greater support for climate mitigation policies compared to co-partisans who did not suffer any damage. These results hold also when we substitute conservatives for Republicans in the analyses. Overall, our findings qualify the conventional wisdom that Republicans are unconcerned with climate change and demonstrate how they can support climate action.