Environ. Commun. 12, 911–927 (2018)

There is broad agreement that combatting climate change requires both adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, adaptation polices that assuage the impacts of climate change may undermine individuals’ support for mitigation efforts, because these behaviours will be seen as less necessary to avoid negative consequences.

Brian Greenhill from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and co-authors conducted an online survey in which US respondents read a fictional newspaper article about a proposed gasoline tax, and then indicated the amount (in cents per gallon) that they would be willing to pay for this proposed tax. Respondents who read newspaper articles that provided information about the costs of adaptation were more likely to support a higher gasoline tax than respondents in the control group who read articles in which adaptation costs were not mentioned, controlling for political and demographic characteristics. Providing information about ancillary benefits associated with the proposed tax had no influence on tax support. These results suggest that providing information about adaptation costs modestly enhances support for mitigation, possibly because it presents mitigation as an option between paying now, or paying more later.