Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion on Government Climate Action in the United States

The study uses a representative survey of 1,580 U.S. citizens to test 48 items based on 12 identified climate delay discourses. The authors find that while beliefs aligning with most of these discourses are widespread in the United States, certain discourses have a stronger correlation with specific policy preferences than others.

• Beliefs consistent with the majority of identified climate delay discourses are common among the U.S. population, although the strength of the relationship between these beliefs and policy preferences varies by discourse.

APA

Rhodes, K., & Kulin, J. (2026). Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion on Government Climate Action in the United States. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/beyond-denial-climate-delay-discourses-and-public-opinion-on-government-climate-action-in-the-united-states/

Chicago

Rhodes, Katya, and Joakim Kulin. Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion on Government Climate Action in the United States. Climate Social Science Network, 2026. https://cssn.org/beyond-denial-climate-delay-discourses-and-public-opinion-on-government-climate-action-in-the-united-states/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rhodes |first1=Katya |last2=Kulin |first2=Joakim |title=Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion on Government Climate Action in the United States |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=1 March 2026 |url=https://cssn.org/beyond-denial-climate-delay-discourses-and-public-opinion-on-government-climate-action-in-the-united-states/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rhodes2026beyond, author = {Rhodes, Katya and Kulin, Joakim}, title = {{Beyond Denial: Climate Delay Discourses and Public Opinion on Government Climate Action in the United States}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://cssn.org/beyond-denial-climate-delay-discourses-and-public-opinion-on-government-climate-action-in-the-united-states/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }