Mormons and the Environment in America

Over the past decade, public opinion research increasingly includes questions about environmental issues. Most social science research examining variations among religious groups ’ environmental views focuses on large, easily sampled groups. Research examining views of specific small American populations, such as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints (informally known as Mormons, or the abbreviation of Latter‐Day Saints, “LDS”), is limited. This master’s project examines American Mormon opinions about the environment generally, as well as LDS views about contemporary environmental issues and public policy proposals related to the environment. Research methods consisted of collecting public opinion polling data through online surveys directed at a general American audience and targeted LDS participants. Using statistical analysis, I measured differences between the views of the two groups. The study reveals significant differences between the Mormon and general American samples, but I do not conclude that variation in religious preference is the only cause of the differences. Due to variables introduced through the online collection methods (including age, educatio