This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new edition of Yale and GMU’s long-running “Climate Change in the American Mind” study, new polling about Trump’s early actions on energy and the environment, and new polling about clean energy incentives and federal environmental programs.

Headlines

Yale + GMU – Most voters continue to say that climate and clean energy should be government priorities; several specific policy proposals earn bipartisan support, including investing in clean energy, limiting methane, and reducing pollution in the most impacted communities [Website, Full Report]

Reuters + Ipsos – The majority of Americans oppose withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, and the public is divided on whether to ease fossil fuel restrictions [Article, Topline]

The Economist + YouGov – Americans oppose withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and are split on scaling back EV goals [Topline, Crosstabs]

Evergreen Action + YouGov – Voters overwhelmingly agree that the government should maintain incentives for clean energy [Release, Memo, Topline]

Progressive Change Institute + Data for Progress – Voters are deeply concerned that DOGE will cut environmental cleanup and federal disaster response [Release, Crosstabs]

Key Takeaways

As the idea of “environmental justice” comes under attack, Americans widely agree that we should be reducing pollution in the communities that have been most impacted. While the public is hazy on what “environmental justice” means (only around half of voters say that they’re familiar with the term), the idea that environmental policies should correct past injustices by reducing pollution in the most impacted communities strikes voters as common sense.

Yale and GMU find that overwhelming majorities of voters support proposals to strengthen enforcement of industrial pollution limits and increase federal funding to low-income communities and communities of color that have been disproportionately harmed by air and water pollution. Further, Evergreen Action and YouGov find that around three-quarters of voters support federal investments to reduce pollution and improve air and water quality in communities with histories of high pollution.

Despite partisan polarization, bipartisan majorities support many specific proposals that would help address climate change. In the latest edition of their long-running “Climate Change in the American Mind” study, Yale and GMU find that Democrats and Republicans continue to trend very far apart in their views about how much the U.S. should prioritize climate change and clean energy. However, several more specific policy proposals continue to attract bipartisan support. For example, majorities across the political spectrum favor proposals to invest in climate-smart agriculture and renewable energy, set strict limits on methane emissions from oil and gas production, and regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

Good Data Points to Highlight

• [Justice] 76% of voters support strengthening the enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution [Yale + GMU]
• [Paris] Voters oppose the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords by a 56%-39% margin [Reuters + Ipsos]
• [ANWR] 67% of voters oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [Yale + GMU]
• [Methane] 74% of voters support setting strict limits on methane emissions from oil and gas production [Yale + GMU]
• [Clean Energy] 71% of voters say that the U.S. should use more renewable energy than it does today [Yale + GMU]
• [Electrification] 69% of voters support tax credits or rebates to encourage people to buy electric appliances, such as heat pumps and induction stoves [Yale + GMU]
• [Jobs] By a 55%-43% margin, voters say that increasing clean energy production is likely to create more good jobs than increasing fossil fuel production [Yale + GMU]