Issue: Climate Impacts

Americans are concerned about climate impacts on U.S. national parks and see national parks as key to climate solutions. 88% of Americans say climate change is negatively impacting national parks, including 95% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans. 92% of Democrats agree that national parks are an important part of the solution to reducing climate change (compared to 75% of Republicans). Similarly, 93% of Democrats say they would be more likely to support their representative if they supported legislation to reduce the impact on parks (compared to 73% of Republicans).

“Perceived fairness” and “effectiveness” are the most important determinants of public support for climate policies. “Self-enhancement values” and “knowledge about climate change” showed weak relationships to public opinion support, and demographic variables showed only weak or close to zero relationship to support for climate policies (or climate concern). “Fairness” refers to the extent that people or a process are treated or implemented equally, or according to criteria like need or merit. “Effectiveness” is people’s beliefs that a policy can fulfill a specific aim.

In terms of public opinion, energy issues enjoy the least partisan divide while environmental issues, such as climate change, are the most partisan. Over the past year, there has been an increase in the number of Americans who say human-caused pollution contributes to climate change—from 79% to 82%—and say their lives have been impacted by climate change—from 39% to 53%. 46% say “energy issues, like the cost of energy and energy reliability” are extremely important—including 46% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans. 41% overall say “environmental issues, like clean air, clean water, climate change, and clean energy” are extremely important—including 60% of Democrats and just 20% of Republicans. Voters say they are generally more likely to support candidates who are pro-clean energy. Republican and independent voters generally favor natural gas. Just 16% of voters think the U.S. is energy independent.