This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on extreme weather, clean water, EVs, and voters’ perceptions about the costs of different energy sources.

Voters overwhelmingly support continued federal funding for water infrastructure projects. 92% of voters say that reliable water access is an “extremely” or “very” important issue, even ranking it ahead of inflation (86%) or the economy (85%) in its importance. 80% of voters support continued federal funding for water infrastructure. 76% of voters would feel more favorably about an elected official who supports additional investment in water infrastructure, while 66% would feel less favorably about an elected official who opposes additional investment in water infrastructure.

A rising share of Americans report experience with extreme weather, as nearly two in five say that they’ve been affected in the past two years. 37% of Americans now say that they were personally impacted by an extreme weather event where they live in the past two years, an increase from 33% in previous Gallup polls from 2022 and 2023. Americans living in the South (49%) and West (43%) are considerably more likely to say that they’ve personally been impacted by extreme weather in recent years than those living in the Midwest (26%) or East (21%). In an open-ended question, more Americans said that they were impacted by hurricanes specifically (12%) than any other type of extreme weather. Those living in the South (28%) were the most likely to say that they’d been impacted by hurricanes, while Americans in the West were more likely to name experiences with wildfires (17%) than any other type of extreme weather and those in the Midwest (10%) were most likely to say that they’d been impacted by tornadoes.

Voters are most likely to believe that solar is the cheapest source of energy today, followed by wind and natural gas. More voters name solar (28%) as the cheapest source of energy today than fossil fuels such as natural gas (17%) or coal (5%). And when asked to identify the second-cheapest source from the list, solar and wind clearly stand apart as the two energy sources that voters believe are most affordable: Solar – 49% in top two Wind – 45% Natural gas – 34% Oil – 15% Nuclear – 14% Coal – 13% Geothermal – 7%. Voters across party lines recognize the cost-effectiveness of solar, but are more divided about wind. Democrats (33%), independents (27%), and Republicans (25%) are all more likely to identify solar as the cheapest form of energy than any other energy source. However, while majorities of Democrats identify both solar (60%) and wind (60%) among the two cheapest forms of energy, Republicans are more likely to choose natural gas (44%) as one of the cheapest forms of energy than to choose wind (32%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Trump’s handling of costs and energy issues, new polling on energy efficiency, and new polling about extreme weather and its impacts on the home insurance market.

Voters say that climate change is contributing to the rise in home insurance costs. While voters have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about clean energy companies, oil and gas companies are underwater. 65% of voters have favorable attitudes about the clean energy industry, compared to just 21% who feel unfavorably about it. 72% of voters say that the increase in climate change-fueled extreme weather events is at least “somewhat” responsible for recent changes in the home insurance sector, including spikes in home insurance rates and insurance companies leaving state insurance markets. Around two-thirds of voters (67%), including majorities of Democrats (82%), independents (61%), and Republicans (56%), say that they are at least “somewhat” concerned about future increases in the frequency of extreme weather events. Additionally, nearly four in five voters (78%) – including large majorities of Democrats (81%), independents (75%), and Republicans (76%) – are at least “somewhat” concerned about future increases in the price of property insurance.

Voters are motivated to take advantage of energy efficiency tax credits and rebates, as they believe that energy efficiency upgrades would lower their utility bills and raise their home values but are concerned about the upfront costs. 81% of voters support the U.S. encouraging energy efficiency improvements such as LED light bulbs, Energy Star-rated appliances, new insulation, and windows. 71% of voters, including 58% of Republicans, support energy efficiency tax credits after reading a brief description of the tax credits that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act. 64% of voters believe that installing energy-efficient appliances and making energy efficiency upgrades would decrease their utility bills. 57% of voters believe that installing energy-efficient appliances and making energy efficiency upgrades would increase their home’s property value. 71% of voters support the U.S. encouraging renewable energy investments, such as solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on federal government cuts and an update of Yale and GMU’s “Six Americas” segmentation analysis.

Voters are losing faith in Trump to handle energy prices. On each of the following measures, Climate Power found that less than half of voters now have confidence in Trump. Additionally, on all of these metrics, confidence in Trump has declined sharply since Climate Power previously asked these questions in December: creating good-paying jobs – 48% (-10 from Dec.); dealing with gas prices – 47% (-12 from Dec.); dealing with energy costs – 45% (-9 from Dec.) Musk’s unfavorability has risen sharply since Trump took office. Consistent with public polling, Climate Power finds that voters nationwide are turning against Musk. They find that 54% of voters now feel unfavorably about him, an increase of 10 points since December (44%).

Over the past ten years, Americans who are “Alarmed” have grown more than any other audience, from 15% in 2014 to 26% in 2024 (+11 percentage points). Conversely, the Cautious have decreased in size the most during that time, from 23% in 2014 to 18% in 2024 (-5 percentage points). Additionally, the percentage of Americans who are either Alarmed or Concerned has increased from 47% in 2014 to 54% in 2024 (+7 percentage points). The Disengaged, Doubtful and Dismissive audiences have remained relatively similar in size over the past decade. Different audiences in the Six Americas have different knowledge needs. Alarmed and Concerned Americans are most interested in learning about solutions to climate change, and may be most responsive to messages asking them to get involved. The Cautious and Doubtful, in contrast, want to know more about the causes and evidence that climate change is happening, and may be most responsive to messaging that explains the scientific consensus around global warming.