Climate Change Warning Labels on Gas Pumps: The Role of Public Opinion Formation in Climate Change Mitigation Policies.

This article analyzes City of Cambridge, Massachusetts legislation that requires all gasoline and diesel pumps to display a consumer warning label outlining the climate change and public health impacts from fuel combustion. This review of empirical and theoretical scholarship on efficacy of carbon label programs and health warning labels suggests government-sponsored "warming labels" may increase self-efficacy beliefs. The analysis reveals warming labels may activate extant climate concern norms and shift public opinion toward long term support of sustainable transportation emissions policies and practices.
Competing Interests: J.R.B. is the founder of the non‐profit Think Beyond the Pump which researches consumer public health and climate warning labels on all points of fossil purchase.
(© 2021 The Authors. Global Challenges published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)