This research initiative explores the hidden emotional reflexes that shape how people respond to climate change—often before they’re consciously aware of it. By using a classic Implicit Association Test (IAT) paradigm, we measure how quickly individuals associate emotionally valenced words (like “kitten – pleasant” or “trash – terrible”) and climate-related terms (like “recycle” or “fossil fuels”) with positive or negative feelings. This approach reveals fast, automatic associations that often bypass conscious reasoning and may not be captured through traditional surveys. By mapping these implicit attitudes across ideological, demographic, and emotional dimensions, the project uncovers how political identity influences emotional responses to climate messaging. As part of the Dartmouth Initiative for Research on Communication and Energy Transformation, this work offers powerful new tools to decode the mental shortcuts behind climate opinion—and to design more emotionally intelligent messages that resonate where facts alone often fall short.