Investigating Householders’ Perceptions of Climate Change: An Update

The Paris Accords (previously named the Kyoto Protocol) is an international environmental treaty intended to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to help tackle climate change, and its associated effects such as more extreme weather events and sea-level rise. Improving energy efficiency of buildings and appliances is the most cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program estimates that homes can achieve carbon emission reductions up to 70% with current best practices (McMahon et al., 2007). New building energy codes and legislation have been introduced to address this but deal with new homes primarily. Industry too, has been pro-active with the introduction of various home rating tools. However, one of the limiting factors to achieving these efficiencies is individual behavior change and the public policies necessary to catalyze these changes. This paper outlines the results of research carried out in St. Augustine Beach, Florida in 2020 and again in 2025. St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida's 1,200-mile coastline. Climate change has resulted in more extreme weather events in the nation’s oldest city, such as hurricanes Mathew (2016) and more recently Milton (2024), that caused significant damage to homes and buildings. Fortunately, the City of St Augustine Beach recently passed resolutions on sea level rise and climate change to help raise awareness of these issues. The research adopted a survey approach to help gauge the perceptions of the community toward climate change and the motivation of individuals to reduce their carbon emissions, in the face of increasing extreme weather events. Just prior to the first survey in 2020 the State has experienced more devastation from hurricanes Ian (2022), Idalia (2023) and both Helene and Milton in 2024. The broad aim of the research was initially to examine the lifestyle choices of residents in relation to climate change and to educate them on actions they can take to reduce their carbon footprint under three categories: transportation; food production and diet, and buildings. The second survey was to gauge if these attitudes have changed with the more recent weather events and with the pronounced difficulty in obtaining insurance cover. Further, with the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act 2022, the survey aimed to educate residents about the tax credits, loans and grants available to them and how to apply to assist them in their transition to a decarbonized lifestyle. The results will help identify what behavioral and policy changes are needed to increase the uptake of energy efficiency and sustainability practices by householders to reduce their carbon footprint. With the likelihood that President-elect Trump will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, it is even more imperative that local communities act to address climate change.