We
argue that to promote pro-environmental decisions and to achieve public
consensus on the need for action we must address individual and collective
understanding (cognition) of environmental problems, as well as individual and collective commitments to take action to mitigate or prevent those
problems. We review literature pertaining to psychological predispositions,
mental models, framing, psychological distance, and the social context of
decisions that help elucidate how these goals of cognition and commitment
can be achieved.
Overcoming public resistance to carbon taxes is a bit narrower (perhaps generalizable) but still good and relevant IMO. They outline five general reasons for opposition to carbon taxes:
The personal costs are perceived to be too high
Carbon taxes can be regressive
Carbon taxes could damage the wider economy
Carbon taxes are believed not to discourage high‐carbon behavior
Governments may want to tax carbon to increase their revenues
and outline some policy advice:
Phasing in carbon taxes over time
Earmarking tax revenues for additional climate change mitigation
I thought the The Psychology of Environmental Decisions had some good info:
Overcoming public resistance to carbon taxes is a bit narrower (perhaps generalizable) but still good and relevant IMO. They outline five general reasons for opposition to carbon taxes:
The personal costs are perceived to be too high
Carbon taxes can be regressive
Carbon taxes could damage the wider economy
Carbon taxes are believed not to discourage high‐carbon behavior
Governments may want to tax carbon to increase their revenues
and outline some policy advice:
Phasing in carbon taxes over time
Earmarking tax revenues for additional climate change mitigation
Redistributing taxes to improve fairness
Information sharing and communication