The authors seem to be missing the elephant in the room: global warming is not just any problem, it's a problem that comes loaded with mind-killing intellectual baggage. Even the very first paragraph, in which the authors quote an enraged parent, indicates that political affiliation and signalling are playing a large role in determining people's reactions toward risks. The experiments they perform are likewise tainted with mind-killing topics, particularly the one about peak oil. It's not clear that the subjects' responses are the result of the "need to cope" model that the authors proposed rather than the result of Blue vs. Green thinking.

If the model put forth in the paper is true, though, it is an important insight into ugh fields.