Americans continue to prefer clean energy over fossil fuels, despite a recent surge in support for fossil fuels among Republicans; public support for nuclear energy is at a near-record high. By a 17-point margin, Americans say that the U.S. should emphasize the development of alternative energy such as wind and solar power to solve the nation’s energy problems (56%) rather than the production of more oil, gas and coal supplies (39%). Republican support for fossil fuels has reached a new high, positioning them far away from the center of the electorate on the issue. The dip in Americans’ preference for clean energy is driven by Republicans, 79% of whom now say that the U.S. should prioritize fossil fuels–a record high in Gallup’s tracking. This is likely a case of rank-and-file Republican voters following Trump’s lead as he has become more aggressive in expanding oil and gas production. By contrast, 92% of Democrats say that the country should prioritize clean energy sources. Independents also favor clean energy over fossil fuels by a wide margin (61% clean energy / 32% fossil fuels), leaving Republicans far apart from the rest of the country in their energy preferences.

A steady one-half of Americans say that they’re open to purchasing an electric vehicle; hybrids have more appeal than fully electric vehicles, especially among Republicans. Roughly half of Americans (51%) now say that they would consider purchasing an EV, including 3% who report that they already own one, 8% who say that they are “seriously” considering one, and 40% who “might” consider one in the future. While Gallup found an eight-point drop in Americans’ openness to EVs between 2023 (59%) and 2024 (51%), interest appears to have stabilized over the past year. While demographics such as age and education are linked to EV interest, political beliefs overshadow every other factor. Interest in EVs is relatively higher among younger Americans aged 18-34 (64%) and college graduates (61%), and lower than average among Americans aged 55+ (41%) and those without college degrees (46%).

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.