COMMColloquium

Climate Change, Social Inequality, & Public (Mis)Perceptions

Jon Schuldt, Professor and Executive Director of the Roper Center, Cornell University

3 pm in 102 Mann

Reception to follow in the Hub

Climate change is commonly portrayed as a universal threat (a “great equalizer”), yet it disproportionately impacts socially and economically disadvantaged communities across the globe. I trace the implications of this reality in a decade of original national-level public opinion surveys. I will discuss how the U.S. public systematically underestimates the climate and environmental concerns of vulnerable groups, how different groups might conceptualize environmental issues in fundamentally different ways, and how Americans broadly report believing that climate change affects all groups about equally – despite evidence to the contrary. The talk will further consider boundary conditions for these findings, as well as implications for public policy and the political divide on climate change.

Jonathon P. Schuldt is a Professor in the Department of Communication, a Professor in the Brooks School of Public Policy, and Executive Director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University. His research explores the social psychology of public opinion, with a special focus on the domains of the environment, health, and U.S. politics. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Climate Change, and Journal of Environmental Psychology, and his writing has appeared in national publications including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.