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As environmental problems have become global, so have communications about them. Many in the environmental movement are concerned that such seemingly insurmountable problems will lead to feelings of helplessness, and thus inaction. Response efficacy, the feeling that one can make a difference, has been studied within the context of health and risk for many years, and is central to a number of leading theories of persuasion and decision-making. This study seeks to examine the roles of these two message factors—distance and efficacy—in psychological responses to environmental communications. Environmental values have been theoretically linked to environmental behaviors, and empirical research has largely supported a causal model of environmental decision-making that starts with values. Construal level theory (CLT) has been used to explain how different frames (proximal versus distal) result in …