This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on the two parties’ approaches to climate change; the connection between hurricanes and climate change; and energy issues in Texas.

Core Republican voters want their members of Congress to address climate change. The Climate Leadership Council and Americans for Carbon Dividends report that the majority (54%) of core Republican voters say it’s important for their member of Congress to work to address climate change. The poll additionally finds that core Republican voters broadly agree on climate action when it’s framed as protecting U.S. manufacturing. For example, over three-quarters (77%) say they would support “a joint effort between the U.S. and its allies to penalize products made from high carbon pollution countries like China, which would benefit more efficient American companies and their workers.” Additionally, 64% support a proposal to “charge a fee on imported goods from foreign countries based upon the carbon pollution that resulted from producing those goods.”

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on voters’ reactions to arguments from the two parties on climate change; the impact of climate change and the environment on battleground voters’ decisions in the upcoming midterms; an experiment in communicating about human-caused climate change using a “heat-trapping blanket” metaphor; Americans’ personal experiences with climate change; and the widening generational gap in Republicans’ environmental attitudes.

A wide-ranging new Pew Research Center poll shows large age-related divides in Republicans' views on global warming. Nearly half of Republicans (or who "lean" Republican) age 18-29 say the federal government is doing too little on the topic. But this concern drops off pretty sharply with age: 47% of those aged 18-49 agreed with that statement, but just 18% of Republicans aged 65+ agreed. There is also a similar sizeable gap between younger and older Republican voters on views on government climate policies (eg, carbon tax, incentivize electric vehicles, require power companies to generate more renewable electricity).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a major new report on the politics of global warming from Yale and George Mason, new national tracking of Americans’ climate attitudes, and new polling on climate resilience and disaster response policies.

The effect of watching the film Don’t Look Up was polarizing. For Democrats who watched it, they become 1% more supportive of immediate government action on climate. But for Republicans, they became 15% LESS supportive. Independents became 9% MORE supportive.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on the Build Back Better plan and its major clean energy and climate provisions and a new poll assessing voters’ trust in the two parties to handle climate and environmental issues. 

When trying to increase concern about climate, reframe the issue as a pollution problem—it’s relevant for everyone. Further, say "fight wealthy-, corporate-, mega-polluters," not "[fight] climate change." Using language like “alarm” and “anxious” can increase backlash among conservatives. When using images, visuals of smog and smokestacks created the highest lift in support for government action while storms and wildfires hardly lifted, largely due to declining support from conservative-leaning audiences.

Make clear the urgency of responding to climate change. According to this poll, only 45 percent of Americans view global warming as an urgent problem requiring immediate action. The poll also finds that while perceptions about the threat of climate change haven’t changed much, the partisan divide on the issue has widened in recent years.     

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 timely new polling on the Build Back Better plan and its climate provisions nationally and in key battlegrounds, as well as new polling about the most trusted messengers on climate change.

HEADLINES

• Navigator - Three in five Americans support the full $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan, with or without explicit pay-fors (Report)
• Sierra Club - Arizona voters widely support the full $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan and overwhelmingly oppose proposed cuts; majorities believe climate change is already affecting the state and want to see Arizona become a clean energy leader (Release, Memo, Topline)
• Climate Power + Data for Progress - Voters in frontline Democratic-held districts widely support the full $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan (Release, AZ-01 Topline, FL-07 Topline, GA-07 Topline, IA-03 Topline, ME-02 Topline, MI-08 Topline, NJ-05 Topline, NY-04 Topline)
• NRDC Action Fund - Climate action is an important motivator for low-propensity Democrats and independents in the 2022 midterm elections (Release)
• Data for Progress - Majorities continue to support the major climate-related aspects of the Build Back Better plan, with energy efficiency and clean energy provisions especially popular (Release, Topline)
• Data for Progress - Voters nationwide support the Clean Electricity Performance Program to incentivize clean energy goals for utilities; supporters have winning arguments to use against pushback (Release)
• Morning Consult - Scientists are the most trusted sources of information about climate change across party lines; most Americans believe that climate change is already affecting the environment and weather where they live (Article, Crosstabs)
• Yale Program on Climate Change Communication + George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication - Public concern about climate change is rising, and support for federal climate action is rising along with it (Article on climate beliefs and concerns, Article on support for climate action)