Resource Type: Polling & Surveys

From a nationally representative poll of registered voters fielded on Oct. 13, 2020, three-quarters (73%) of voters say they are worried about climate change, including 87% of Black Protestants, 82% of nonwhite Catholics, 77% of white Catholics, 76% of Jews, and 57% of white evangelical Protestants. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of voters want a multi-trillion-dollar federal economic stimulus to invest in clean energy infrastructure as part of COVID-19 recovery, including 72% of Black Protestants and 54% of white evangelical Protestants. 

What are the key audiences you need to reach and activate to build power? What does the evidence say is the most effective way to reach them? During this webinar, we will dig into audience-specific messaging research for key constituency groups and workshop specific messages to test within the context of our climate campaigns.
*Note: This webinar is the third in a series of 3 webinars on Communicating for Climate Action.

This report is an analysis of public opinion about climate change among the regular U.S. audience (American adults who frequently watch, read, or listen to the content) of each of six major U.S. news sources: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, the Weather Channel, and the national nightly network news (on CBS, ABC, or NBC). It finds that large majorities in most news audiences are interested in news stories about a wide range of global warming topics, but that majorities in all news audiences feel they are not very well informed about global warming. Additional findings can be seen in the Executive Summary and throughout the report.

79% of voters are more likely to support a lawmaker who supports policies that encourage renewabl energy options (such as wind, solar, and waste to energy technologies), compared to 51% of voters who are more likely to support a lawmaker who supports policies that encourage the development of more fossil fuel energy, such as coal and oil. 
Voters are most likely (85%) to support a lawmaker who supports legislation that would provide additional ways for home or business owners to finance energy upgrades, such as improved insulation, lighting, or windows. 
77% of voters are more likely to support a lawmaker who wants to change North Carolina’s regulatory policy to allow for more competition and consumer choice. 
A pluarility of voters (38%) see climate change as a “serious problem” and think “immediate action” is necessary. An addiitonal 22% support “some action.” 
60% of voters recognize that the effects of climate change “have already begun to happen” and 59% understand climate change is “mainly the result of manmade pollution.”

A national survey conducted in late August found that:

The coronavirus pandemic has created the urgency to act in a way that climate change hasn’t. 
Despite the fact that voters are less concerned about climate, they still want robust clean energy investments in economic stimulus, seeing that as a great way to create jobs and better than investing in fossil fuels.
Because the urgency to act is already high and voters strongly and broadly support clean energy stimulus, we can still win.
Communications should focus on the need to recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic and the ways clean energy investments can create jobs and growth.
Environmental justice messages should be a part of this: They connect powerfully with communities of color, and there is no apparent backlash effect with white audiences.