Title: Environmental awareness and consumers' willingness to accept higher fuel prices to reduce carbon emissions

Authors: John McCollough

Addresses: Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas 77710, USA

Abstract: This article presents the results of two surveys regarding consumers' willingness to accept higher fuel prices to reduce carbon emissions. Both surveys are exactly similar and were given during the same time. For the first survey, the survey respondents were asked to read a one-page associated press article from January 10th, 2022, which summarised the problems that occurred in the USA resulting from climate change during the previous year of 2021. In the second survey, the participants were not given the article to read. The results of both surveys demonstrate that climate change awareness keenly impacts how much survey participants are willing to accept in terms of higher fuel prices to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, if the national government wants to increase fuel prices to reduce carbon emissions, then the government needs to make the public very aware about the pending problems, issues and causes of climate change.

Keywords: environmental awareness; carbon emissions; fuel tax; climate change; fuel prices; willingness to accept; climate awareness.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2025.145774

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2025 Vol.24 No.2, pp.112 - 123

Received: 22 Mar 2024
Accepted: 23 Jul 2024
Published online: 23 Apr 2025 *

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