This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ experiences and perceptions about extreme weather + the first polling we’ve seen on the Supreme Court overturning the Chevron deference.

Voters tilt against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron deference when they learn about it. Effective messages focus on clean air and water and how experts and scientists, rather than unelected judges, should be making decisions about how to keep Americans safe. By a 28-point margin (64%-36%), voters side more with the following statement over an opposing argument in favor of the Supreme Court striking down the Chevron deference: “Experts and professional scientists should be the ones making decisions about how to keep Americans safe and protect the environment, rather than unelected judges without subject matter training.” By a 20-point margin (60%-40%), voters side more with the following statement over an opposing argument in favor of the Supreme Court striking down the Chevron deference: “This decision will make it much harder to protect the environment, keep Americans safe from substances like lead and arsenic, ensure access to clean air and water, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Majorities of Americans who report experiences with extreme weather, including Republicans, say that climate change contributed to it. Majorities of Americans who say that their area experienced heat waves, droughts, major wildfires, or rising sea levels in the past year say that climate change contributed “a lot” to the event. 73% of Americans say that it’s a good idea to set stricter building standards for new construction in places at high risk of extreme weather. 57% of Americans say that it’s a good idea for the government to provide financial assistance for people to rebuild in places at high risk of extreme weather. Compared to Republicans, Democrats are 23 points more likely to say that their community experienced long periods of unusually hot weather (57% to 34%), 17 points more likely to say that their community experienced severe weather like floods or intense storms (59% to 42%), 12 points more likely to say that their community experienced rising sea levels (23% to 11%), nine points more likely to say that their area experienced droughts or water shortages (31% to 22%), and seven points more likely to say that their area experienced major wildfires (21% to 14%).

The United States is less “Alarmed” about global warming than most other top carbon-emitting countries. Prior research has identified six distinct audiences within the public – the Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive – based on their beliefs and attitudes about climate change. The Alarmed are convinced climate change is happening, human-caused, and an urgent threat, and strongly support climate policies. There are substantial differences among the 15 nations in the study that are responsible for the largest annual shares of global carbon emissions (note this study did not include China, Russia, or Iran). Among these countries, the largest proportion of Alarmed are in Mexico (62%), followed by India (58%) and Brazil (57%). The United States is the second-largest annual emitter and the world’s largest historical emitter of the carbon pollution that causes global warming. Yet, relatively few people in the United States are Alarmed about global warming, compared to other top emitters. The U.S. has the fourth-smallest percentage of Alarmed (32%), after Australia (28%), Germany (26%), and Indonesia (25%). On the other end of the Six Audiences spectrum, the countries with the largest percentages of Doubtful or Dismissive respondents are the United States (25%), Australia (24%), and Germany (21%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ attitudes about climate change, views on different energy sources, and beliefs about the links between fossil fuel pollution and health problems.

Steady majorities of Americans recognize that global warming is happening and caused by humans, and a rising number say that they’ve personally been affected. 70% of Americans recognize that global warming is happening. 66% of Americans recognize that global warming is affecting weather in the United States. 59% of Americans recognize that global warming is caused mostly by humans. 63% of Americans disagree with the argument that it’s “too late” to do anything about global warming. 60% of Americans agree that global warming is an “economic issue”.

Climate communicators have better information than ever before on what the public knows about climate change. Here are some trends that can help all climate communicators reach people where they are, with information and perspectives that will help on the road to a decarbonized society. Climate solutions are looming larger in people’s lives: there are far more questions about solar panels and tree-planting than about hurricanes and droughts. Change is worrying—even when it’s positive change: Most questions people have about these solutions are cautious, if not outright skeptical. People want to go deeper on the science (and it’s not about persuasion). Curiosity is an opportunity: that pivot—from responding to people’s curiosity, to gently reminding them that climate change is an urgent challenge—is possible with almost every climate question.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on the clean energy transition, the personal impacts of climate change, climate change as an issue in the presidential race, and methane pollution + a new analysis of the ways that Americans’ climate attitudes change over time.

National TV news largely failed to connect Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, to climate change. From July 1-8, corporate broadcast and cable news networks aired a combined 701 minutes across 343 segments about Hurricane Beryl, with only 15 segments (4%) mentioning climate change. Cable news networks — CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC — aired a combined 520 minutes across 234 segments about Hurricane Beryl, with 9 mentioning climate change. Corporate broadcast TV networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — aired a combined 181 minutes across 109 segments about Hurricane Beryl, with 6 mentioning climate change. 32 segments mentioned rapid intensification, a climate signal.

Despite widespread discouragement among climate activists, a tested blueprint for successful movements shows immense progress being made. There are patterns movements follow as they expand from the political fringes to start shaping national decisions. One framework for identifying these is the eight-stage “Movement Action Plan,” or MAP, articulated by activist and scholar Bill Moyer in 1987. According to Moyer, during Stage One of the MAP unjust conditions “are maintained by the policies of public and private powerholders, and a majority of public opinion.” During the MAP’s Stage One, the status quo is reinforced by the public’s misconception that if something were seriously amiss, officially sanctioned forms of advocacy like lobbying should be sufficient to rectify the problem. The next stage of the MAP involves conditions aligning to create a political environment where the birth of a broad-based movement becomes possible—this may involve national or global events over which activists have little control. Then, all successful movements experience a moment when they enter the public consciousness and become a potent political force, usually after a trigger event that grabs people’s attention. The climate movement has already progressed through most stages of the MAP can provide activists with a sense of clarity about what work has already been done.