Different names for “natural gas” influence public perception of it: They associate natural gas with “clean” and methane gas with “pollution.”

Different names for “natural gas” influence public perception of it. Karine Lacroix et al. Journal of Environmental Psychology, August 18 2021, 101671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101671

Highlights

•  Americans have strong positive feelings for the term “natural gas.”.

•  Americans have negative views of the alternative terms “methane” and “methane gas.”.

•  They associate natural gas with “clean” and methane gas with “pollution.”.

•  The alternative terms “fossil gas” and “fracked gas” are politically polarized.

Abstract: In many countries, natural gas is perceived more favorably than other fossil fuels. Here, we experimentally test (N = 2931) how perceptions of natural gas vary depending on what it is called. We find that Americans have stronger positive feelings for the term “natural gas” than “natural methane gas” (d = 0.59), “fossil gas” (d = 0.80), “fracked gas” (d = 0.81), “methane” (d = 0.94), and “methane gas” (d = 0.96). Democrats and Republicans both reported more positive views of “natural gas” than “natural methane gas” or “methane [gas].” But the patterns for the two political parties differed for perceptions of “fossil gas” and “fracked gas,” which were both viewed relatively positively by Republicans but negatively by Democrats. Analyses of open-ended word associations found that many participants associated methane with words like “pollution” and “global warming,” whereas they associated natural gas with words like “clean.” The results suggest that the terms used for this fossil fuel have very different meanings among the public, which may affect people's risk perceptions, consumer choices, and support for related policies.

Keywords: Risk perceptionAffectImageryNatural gasMethaneClimate change