Environmental Polling Roundup – June 3rd, 2022

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls – including new polling on oil and gas companies’ price gouging; clean energy investment as part of potential new economic legislation in Washington; the links between climate change and public health, pollution, and extreme weather; and Americans’ emotional responses to climate change.

HEADLINES

Navigator

Voters increasingly view corporate greed as a major cause of inflation, and rate “price gouging” as the most accurate description for oil and gas companies’ behavior; over two-thirds of voters continue to support a Biden economic package that includes clean energy investment (Release, Deck)

ecoAmerica + American Public Health Association (APHA)

Most Americans associate extreme weather with climate change, but less than half associate air pollution with climate change; younger Americans have the strongest emotional responses to climate change (Memo on climate change + health, Memo on emotional responses to climate change, Climate change + health topline, Emotional responses topline)

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

• Voters support new economic legislation from President Biden and Democrats in Congress by a 68%-22% margin after reading a brief description including that it would “invest in clean energy like wind and solar power” [Navigator]

• 63% of Americans believe that it would improve their health if the United States took action on climate change [ecoAmerica + APHA]

• Majorities of Americans associate heatwaves, severe storms, drought, wildfire, and floods with climate change [ecoAmerica + APHA]

• More Americans say that climate change and the environment is the single most important issue to them than any other issue aside from the economy and health care [Economist + YouGov]