The polarization of public opinion on biofuels in North America: key drivers and future trends

Abstract

We investigate the extent to which public attitudes towards biofuels are politically polarized in the USA and Canada. Drawing from a review of the literature on Americans’ attitudes towards biofuels, we show that opinion on the issue is politically polarized in the USA, with Democrats approving of biofuels much more strongly than Republicans. Using data from two original surveys of Canadian adults, however, we find that attitudes in Canada are neither politically nor culturally polarized. We argue that the difference in polarization across the two countries likely reflects differences in the relative polarization of public attitudes towards climate change and in the party affiliation of the governments that established pro-biofuels policies.