Psychological distance, risk perception, and affect: Texas residents’ support for carbon capture and storage

Abstract

Climate change poses innumerable threats to economic, social, and environmental systems. Despite our best efforts, emerging research indicates that mitigation and adaptation efforts must incorporate technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) to draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it elsewhere. This study examines how psychological distance and perceived risk pertaining to climate change influence Texans’ support for CCS through perceived CCS costs/benefits and affect. Overall, the results indicate that perceived psychological distance of climate change influences support for CCS through risk perception about local climate change impacts, perceived CCS benefits, and affective evaluation. Political partisanship moderates the relationship between psychological distance and climate change risk perception, but not the relationship between psychological distance and support for CCS.