Public Resource
Poll: Who is willing to participate in non-violent civil disobedience for the climate?
A recent survey that asked Americans about their willingness to "support an organization engaging in non-violent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse" and about their willingness to "personally engage in such non-violent civil disobedience themselves" found:
- Among the Six Americas segments, the Alarmed are the most likely to support an organization engaging in non-violent civil disobedience; half (50%) said they “definitely” (21%) or “probably” (29%) would support such an organization.
- 28% of the Alarmed said they “definitely” (10%) or “probably” (18%) would personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse, if asked to by a person they liked and respected. The ten percent of the Alarmed who are “definitely willing” to personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience represents approximately 8.6 million American adults.
- Millennial and younger adults are more likely to support organizations engaging in non-violent civil disobedience than older generations -- with 35% stating they “definitely would” (14%) or “probably would” (21%) support them -- and also more likely to say they would personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience to protect the climate; 8% said they “definitely would” and 12% said they “probably would,” if asked to by a person they liked and respected.
- People of color are more likely than whites to support organizations engaging in non-violent civil disobedience. About one third (34%) of Black Americans “definitely would” (12%) or “probably would” (22%), and about one third (35%) of Hispanics/Latinos “definitely would” (14%) or “probably would” (21%) support such organizations.
- People of color are also more likely than whites to say they would personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience in defense of the climate; about one in six Hispanics/Latinos (6% “definitely would” and 11% “probably would”) and one in five Black Americans (5% “definitely would” and 17% “probably would”) say they would engage in such actions, if asked to by a person they liked and respected.