Poll: Widening partisan gap over dealing with climate change

A majority of Americans (55%) now cite protecting the environment as a top priority, up from 47% in 2016. 

The widest partisan gap on any policy issue is on the importance of dealing with global climate change. 62% of Democrats say this should be a top priority for the president and Congress, vs. just 15% of Republicans – making climate change by far the lowest-ranked of 21 policy priorities among Republicans. Republicans have ranked global climate change – or global warming in surveys prior to 2015 – at or close to the bottom of the list of policy priorities for more than a decade. At the same time, the share of Democrats who rate climate change as a top priority has steadily increased in recent years – from 46% in 2015 to 62% currently. 

There also is a sizable partisan gap over the importance of environmental protection as a policy priority. While 72% of Democrats say protecting the environment should be a top priority for Congress and the president, just 35% of Republicans say this.