Do Americans' feelings and associations regarding natural gas depend on what we call it?

Natural gas is mostly methane (70-90%). In our new study, we test whether "methane" evokes different feelings/assoc., and how much lift we get from the word "natural."

Findings... 1/x

We find that Americans have MUCH stronger positive feelings towards "natural gas" than "natural methane gas," "methane gas," or "methane."

Same pattern for Democrats and Republicans. But Republicans have much more positive feelings and associations in all conditions.

2/x

Looking at the same figure, we also see that the word "natural" does some heavy lifting: people have much more positive feelings towards "natural methane gas" than "methane gas" or "methane."

3/x

We also asked respondents what comes to mind when thinking of natural gas or methane. Natural gas had far more positive associations compared to methane. Knowing the harms of natural gas, it's alarming that many people associate it with "clean."

4/x

There's a lot more in the full paper. We are currently working on it to submit to journal, so we'll keep you posted here as the project progresses. Stay tuned!

Fantastic work leading this @karinlacroix, and many to the team @AbelGustafson @MethodsMaven @ecotone2

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