Potier, Beth

Sterndale, Amy

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University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryMedia Relations Administrative Offices10-14-2008Carsey: Rural Americans Divided OnEnvironmental ViewsBeth PotierUNH Media RelationsAmy SterndaleCarsey InstituteFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/newsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationPotier, Beth and Sterndale, Amy, "Carsey: Rural Americans Divided On Environmental Views" (2008). UNH Today. 559.https://scholars.unh.edu/news/559Carsey: Rural Americans Divided on Environmental Viewshttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/oct/bp14environ.cfm.html[9/12/2016 3:25:03 PM] Carsey: Rural Americans Divided On EnvironmentalViewsMedia Contact:  Beth Potier 603-862-1566UNH Media Relations Amy Sterndale 603-862-4650Carsey InstituteOctober 14, 2008Editors and reporters: Report author Michele Dillon can be reached for comment at781-915-7360 (cell) or Michele.dillon@unh.edu. Please note the correct spelling ofthe author's first name.DURHAM, N.H. - Reflecting the heterogeneous nature of rural America, rural Americans aredivided ï¿½ primarily along religious lines - on their perspectives of environmentalconservation and climate change, a new brief from the Carsey Institute at the University ofNew Hampshire finds. And as rural voters and environmental issues become key issues in theupcoming presidential election, this religious divide presents a challenge to politicalcandidates."Rural voters, who are more often evangelical, may see the effects of global warming andother environmental issues first-hand, given how central natural resources are to theirlivelihoods," says report author Michele Dillon, a senior fellow at the Carsey Institute andprofessor of sociology at UNH. "Yet we found that born-again Protestants tend to be the leastlikely to perceive the effects of global warming."Dillon and co-author Megan Henley analyzed data gathered in 2007 from the CarseyInstitute's research on Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA). That researchsurveyed 7,842 residents of 19 rural counties across the U.S. and found four major profiles ofrural America: amenity-rich communities, declining resource-dependent communities,chronically poor communities, and communities transitioning between declining resource-dependent and amenity-rich (see "Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four RuralAmericas" at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/Report_PlaceMatters.pdf).This brief, called "Religion, Politics and the Environment in Rural America," found that ruralAmericans are far more likely to be Protestant (59 percent) than Catholic (16 percent), exceptin the Northeast; and that nearly two-thirds of those Protestants (63 percent) are born-againChristians. Born-again Protestants are especially prominent in chronically poor communities,where they comprise 63 percent of the population, and declining resource-dependentcommunities (38 percent).The brief finds rural Americans to be quite divided on environmental issues. Asked whether itis more important to use natural resources to create jobs or to conserve natural resources forfuture generations, 29 percent favor job creation, 43 percent favor conservation, and 28Carsey: Rural Americans Divided on Environmental Viewshttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/oct/bp14environ.cfm.html[9/12/2016 3:25:03 PM]percent said both priorities should be weighed equally. Born-again Protestants were less likelyto favor resource conservation (40 percent) than other rural Americans, particularly Catholics(49 percent) and unaffiliated (48 percent). Born-again Protestants are also significantly morelikely than other rural Americans to say that urban sprawl and global warming have no effectson their communities.The divide between born-again Protestants and other religious affiliations on the effects ofsprawl and global warming is even more pronounced in declining resource-dependentcommunities (concentrated in Appalachia and the Midwest), where 59 percent of born-againProtestants see no effect of global warming, compared to 50 percent of non-evangelicalProtestants. "There seems to be a confluence of experiencing decline and being born againthat is particularly antithetical to perceiving environmental threat," says Dillon.Noting that born-again Protestants are more likely to identify with the Republican Party, thebrief suggests that Republican candidates will benefit from heeding the environmental viewsof this group. Yet other rural Americans, particularly those living in amenity-rich areas, aremore likely to represent pro-environment views, presenting a challenge for politicalcandidates."There's no obvious way John McCain can have an environmental policy that appeases bothgroups," says Dillon.To download a copy of the report, go to http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-ReligionPolitics08.pdf.The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire conducts research and analysis onthe challenges facing rural families and communities in New Hampshire, New England, and thenation. The Carsey Institute sponsors independent, interdisciplinary research that documentstrends and conditions affecting families and communities, providing valuable information andanalysis to policymakers, practitioners, the media, and the general public. Through this work,the Carsey Institute contributes to public dialogue on policies that encourage social mobilityand sustain healthy, equitable communities. The Carsey Institute was established in May 2002with a generous gift from UNH alumna and noted television producer Marcy Carsey. Visit usonline at http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/.-30-   

Carsey: Rural Americans Divided On Environmental Views

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Carsey: Rural Americans Divided On Environmental Views

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