Abstract
<p>Despite surging research on place-based climate politics and energy communities, we know little about how the joint presence of extreme weather events and carbon-intensive activities cross-pressures the local politics of the Global South. This paper argues that, while exposure to extreme climate events can stimulate collective action, local fossil fuel dominance short circuits mobilization and dampens local political engagement because these industries play crucial roles in insulating their communities from the costs of climate change. We test our argument by analyzing new data on local climate exposure at the municipality-month level across six emerging economies from 2010 to 2022. We show that, while climate shocks can spur political activation on average, this effect is systematically muted where fossil fuels are locally dominant. Original focus groups from Brazil and Indonesia further trace how, while climate salience and awareness are high, polarization on the ground is rare and political apathy prevails. The results enrich theories of bottom-up action in climate-frontline communities.</p>