Resource Type: Research & Articles

In 2021, we saw high and enduring public support for a range of actions that would address the climate crisis and put the country on a path to a cleaner future. The 70% of Americans who say they are at least “somewhat” worried about global warming is the highest figure recorded since this surveying began in 2008. A September 2021 poll also found that 70% of Americans believe that global warming is affecting weather in the United States, a new high. Americans are most likely to believe that global warming is having at least “some” effect on hot weather events such as extreme heat (68%), wildfires (67%), and droughts (66%). While Pew found that 65% of Republican voters in early 2020 believed that the country should prioritize renewables over fossil fuels, more Republican voters in April 2021 said that expanding fossil fuels should be the country’s energy priority (52%) than developing alternative energy sources (47%). However, Republican voters reported far less confidence in Republican politicians in their ability to handle environmental issues, as compared to other issues such as the economy or immigration. More Democrats said that passing a bill to address climate change and its effects should be a “top priority” for Congress (56%) than any other priority aside from stimulating the economy to recover from the coronavirus pandemic (60%) and passing a healthcare reform bill (57%). This report also includes survey data summaries about Build Back Better, scientists as trusted authorities, and holding corporations accountable.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling about Build Back Better, a new Yale/GMU report on consumer activism, and a comparison of how strongly partisan voters on both sides care about the government’s approach to climate change.

A focus on individual actions can distract from the larger climate movement goal of system change. While many activists in the UK-based group Extinction Rebellion (XR) call for “system change,” what is missing is an understanding of what kind of system change is necessary—and how it might be achieved. XR activists still engage in personal pro-environmental behaviors, even though their political goals are aimed at systemic change, and the group continues to argue that blaming and shaming individuals is counterproductive. This article argues that accusations of hypocrisy (based on their personal choices of climate movement activists) are used to discredit, divide, and undermine the climate movement—and those accusations by opponents work, to some degree.