Resource Type: Research & Articles

If we focus on women, we can persuade twice as many people for the same resources. Time and again, women just appear to be significantly more persuadable to become climate advocates than men. In other words, when men and women are shown the same messages, we see significantly higher increases in “support for government action on climate change” with women. Fossil fuel industry messaging works on men, but not much on women. In a test about job creation versus job loss, which pitted a pro-climate message against an ad from the oil-and-gas industry, women were two times more likely to be persuaded to strongly support climate action. Even after viewing the fossil fuel industry’s ad, they remained strong supporters for climate action. In contrast, viewing a fossil fuel industry ad tended to decrease support for action among men; viewing a pro-climate message, which would otherwise increase support among men on its own, did not counteract the fossil fuel industry’s job loss message.

A recent poll shows that more Americans than ever believe global warming is happening and are alarmed by it. 76% of Americans believe global warming is happening (compared to 12% who don’t). 70% of Americans are “very” or “somewhat worried” about global warming. 55% of Americans believe that people in the U.S. “are being harmed right now” by global warming. All of these survey estimates are at their highest points (since they began in 2008). This survey was fielded in September 2021.

This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines from this week’s public polls, good data points to highlight, and a full roundup with key takeaways from each poll – including lots of timely new polling on the Build Back Better plan.
HEADLINES

Yahoo + YouGov – Americans support Biden’s “$3.5 trillion infrastructure plan” by double digits, and a plurality support using the budget reconciliation process to overcome a Republican filibuster (Topline, Crosstabs)
POLITICO + Morning Consult – Voters widely support tax breaks for renewable energy in the reconciliation bill, even when it’s framed as a Democratic proposal (Topline, Crosstabs)
Data for Progress + Invest in America – Voters support the Build Back Better plan by a two-to-one margin after reading an explanation of its components; grid modernization continues to be one of the plan’s most popular provisions (Release, Topline)
LCV + Climate Power – Majorities of voters across Democratic-held U.S. Senate battleground states (AZ, CO, GA, NH + NV) support the Build Back Better plan after a brief description, and majorities also reject the idea of trimming the bill down; top messages focus on jobs, pollution/health, and lowering utility bills (Deck, Memo, AZ Topline, CO Topline, GA Topline, NH Topline, NV Topline)
Navigator – Climate is rising as a national priority; two in five voters say that weather in their community this summer has been different from past years, and most who have experienced unusual weather cite climate change as the reason (Release, Deck, Topline)
Data for Progress – “Green jobs” are a confusing concept for voters (Memo)
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication – Moderates have similar reactions to “climate change” and “extreme weather” as the rationale for emergency preparedness actions and policies, but there are benefits to using “extreme weather” with conservative audiences (Article)

“Having this electric school bus is the confirmation that things happen because this community has power. I hope community leaders find the strategies to continue to activate that power.” – Teo Argueta, Chispa Arizona
Activists from Chispa Arizona won a huge victory this summer, when the Cartwright School District in Phoenix, Arizona purchased its first electric school bus — one step toward cleaner air for a county where thousands of Latinos are impacted by some of the country’s worst air pollution.
This week, as Latinx communities celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15) and mark the 4-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria making landfall in Puerto Rico, we share research and reflections on how Latinos are building power for climate action in their communities.