Populism and environmental attitudes in the land of coal: results from a Czech opinion survey

Populism and environmental and energy concerns have been at the forefront of public and academic debates. In this article we evaluate expectations about the relationship between populism and environmental attitudes, and specifically as they relate to climate change and fossil fuels. Relying on extant literature, we pay special attention to the role of gender and age. Specifically, we expect that populism and support for fossil fuels as energy sources are positively correlated. As per the prevailing literature, women tend to be more supportive of environmental protection, but environmental concerns decrease among the aging population regardless of gender. To evaluate these expectations and to further assess the intersection between the two phenomena, we analyze results from a Czech public opinion survey conducted in 2021 with 1,779 participants. We find that populist attitudes are more significant determinants of individual environmental views than sociodemographic variables. Studying the intersection of populism and environmentalism in the Czech Republic, where the coal mining industry is strong, allows us to suggest practical solutions aimed simultaneously at both populism and public environmental/energy concerns.