Resource Type: Research & Articles

A broad majority young Americans understand anthropogenic climate change, but many are struggling to identify individual practices they can take to improve global sustainability, according to a survey of 15-25 year olds on climate change, environmental justice, and related public policy initiatives.

38% call climate change a crisis, 31% say it’s a problem, 12% a concern, 9% a non-issue, and 8% label it fiction.
While 44% of young Americans are either “very” (21%) or “somewhat” (23%) optimistic the world will successfully address climate change, 47% are either “somewhat” (12%) or “very” (25%) pessimistic
Respodents expressed a strong desire to do their part in mitigating climate change, but many were unsure how:
27% of respondents say they have reduced their usage of single-use plastics, 14% take alternate transportation, and 12% have curtailed electrical use. Another 14% have participated in a march or protest, and 10% have volunteered to create change. 67% have shared climate information on social media. (89% report they get the majority of their news from social media.)
67% of respondents report they do not believe U.S. residents are equally protected against exposure to pollution and other ecological hazards and 37% characterize environmental justice in the U.S. as “extremely inequitable.”
The survey also found significant support for many of President Biden’s environmental actions.

52% of Americans agree that electric vehicles are instrumental in combating climate change, and 41% say they would consider an EV for their next car.
45% of Americans— and 72% of potential EV drivers — say environmental considerations are important when buying a car.
46% agree that governments should increase tax incentives for people who buy EVs 
 Top barrier to buying is drivers’ uncertainty around finding a charging station when they need. Only 18% of Americans, and 30% of potential EV drivers, say that there are enough charging stations in their area.
Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) EV drivers said they’ve had problems charging their EVs at public charging stations that were broken, not designed to accommodate people with disabilities, or otherwise difficult to use.
According to survey responses, the typical U.S. EV driver is young (18 to 34), male, highly educated, and charges their EV mostly at home (73%). Most EV drivers own multiple cars — often, an EV plus a gas car — a sign that drivers don’t feel comfortable going fully-electric without a backup because EV charging infrastructure is not yet widely available.

Get back to basics in climate communications with simple messages, plain (but vivid) language, and relatable benefits. These are among the key takeaways from the 600 million digital ads and two years of testing by Potential Energy, a nonprofit coalition of creative, analytic, and media agencies that brings a marketing philosophy of “People First” communication to climate. This webinar covered frameworks and language that most increase climate change understanding, messaging “ways in” that increase worry and demand for government action, terminology and concepts to avoid, and key audience segments most open to new messages.
The creative content from their Science Moms and The Great American Build campaigns is available for others to amplify online.