Explaining environmental concern and action in Canada

Abstract

OECD data indicate that there have been significant improvements in the environmental quality of advanced industrial states over the last decade or so. At the same time, other recent opinion data show that the Canadian public, like others, have become increasingly concerned about the environment. This paper uses Canadian national survey evidence to empirically evaluate four prominent and theoretically plausible explanations—new politics, economics, health consciousness and cognitive mobilization—for the apparent surge in environmental concern and activism. The results of LISREL analysis indicate that two of the four explanations—cognitive mobilization and health consciousness—consistently have significant total effects on both environmental concern and activism. When considering only the direct effects on environmental activism, environmental concern, along with three of the four candidate explanations—cognitive mobilization, new politics and health consciousness respectively—turn out to be significant. Only the economics argument remains insignificant in both instances.