Resource Type: Polling & Surveys

In recent polling, clear majorities support the U.S. taking more serious policy action on climate—especially regarding international climate diplomacy. Some topline examples illustrate this: About two in three registered voters (65%) think the United States should be doing more to address global warming; 61% of registered voters think the United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of what other countries do. Seven in ten registered voters (70%) support U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement. More than half of registered voters support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., mitigation, 58%) and to help them prepare for the impacts of global warming (i.e., adaptation, 54%). Three in four registered voters (75%) support the United States pressuring other countries to reduce their carbon pollution.             

Americans support the Green New Deal (GND), even when shown GOP attack lines about the policy package. 60% of Americans support the GND, and just 29% oppose it. This breaks down to 83% support by Democrats, 57% by Independents, and 36% by Republicans. Further, a majority of voters (57%) say they would support if their member of Congress co-sponsored the GND resolution when it is reintroduced in Congress. 51% say they’d be more likely to re-elect their representative if they co-sponsor the GND. Even when presented with a right-wing talking point that the GND would be “a waste of taxpayer money that will increase the national debt”, 52% still think lawmakers should pass the GND. Every major policy plank of the Green New Deal enjoys widespread bipartisan support, including lowering utility costs, reducing pollution, helping family farmers adopt sustainable practices, making communities more resilient to extreme weather, and investing in frontline communities.

Since 2008, the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment (NSEE) have been exploring views of global warming among American adults. In the 24th wave of the survey, NSEE reached five key findings:

American acceptance of global warming is at a record high, with 75% of adults believing there is solid evidence that temperatures have increased over the last four decades;
Americans are more confident in their view that the planet is warming, with 51% indicating they are very confident global warming is happening;
Nearly 6 in 10 adults indicated that there is strong evidence of global warming and that humans are partially responsible;  
Almost half – 47% – of Americans attributed 2020’s record warmth to human induced global warming;
Action on climate change is more varied among respondents: mitigation efforts are the most commonly identified climate policies (39%), and nearly equal portions of respondents prioritized adaptation (16%) and geoengineering (17%).

More Americans are alarmed about climate change. Survey research identified six unique audiences within the American public that each responds to the issue of climate change in their own distinct way: alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, and dismissive. Between 2014 and 2020, the percentage of the population that is alarmed by climate change more than doubled and by April of 2020 over half of all American adults were in one of the two most worried segments – alarmed (25%) and concerned (28%).