Residents in metro areas across Indiana support initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate change, despite varying levels of belief in its existence, according to a new series of Indiana University reports.
The reports are a product of the Hoosier Life Survey, a statewide survey on environmental attitudes conducted by IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute. The survey offers insight into how seven Indiana metro areas are preparing for climate change and provides strategies to boost community resilience.
“In Indiana, local governments, organizations and individual citizens have already begun to prepare their communities for the impacts of climate change and to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in order to lessen further change,” said Matthew Houser an IU sociologist and Environmental Resilience Institute research fellow who co-led the survey. “Our latest reports are designed to support these efforts and give a clearer understanding of how specific Hoosier communities view climate change. Local policymakers and stakeholders across the state can use these views to craft more targeted outreach strategies.”
Houser said that one of the biggest takeaways from the survey’s results is that the majority of respondents support programs and policies that would help prepare their communities for the impacts of climate change.
