This study leverages the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident as natural experiment to determine the causal impact environmental disasters may have on the formation of environmental public opinion. Using Eurobarometer data on more than 60,000 individuals’ attitudes toward environmental salience before and after the incident, I find that Fukushima had indeed a causal effect on whether people see the environment as a salient policy item. This impact is more strongly pronounced for what respondents think dominates the political agenda than for personal priorities. These results have important implications for the understanding of how public opinion about the environment is formed, and they have crucial consequences for the suspected link between policymaking and public opinion.

中文翻译：

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环境灾难和公众意见的形成：自然实验

这项研究利用福岛第一核电站核事故作为自然实验，来确定环境灾害可能对环境舆论形成的因果关系。使用欧洲晴雨表的数据，分析事件发生前后六万多人对环境显着性的态度，我发现福岛确实对人们是否将环境视为重要的政策项目具有因果关系。与个人优先事项相比，这种影响更明显地体现在受访者认为主导政治议程的方面。这些结果对于理解公众对环境意见的形成方式具有重要意义，并且对政策制定和公众舆论之间的可疑联系具有至关重要的影响。