This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling about Americans’ issue priorities for 2025 and a new international report comparing different countries’ expectations about climate impacts this year.

More Democrats name climate/environment as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other issue. In an open-ended question that allowed respondents to volunteer up to five priorities, AP-NORC finds that more Americans name immigration (47%) as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other single issue. It’s important to note that the economy (30%) and inflation (29%) would rank as the public’s top priority if combined together, though the AP-NORC analysis separates these into distinct issues. Foreign policy (35%) also ranks among Americans’ biggest issue concerns, and climate/environment (21%) ranked fifth on the list in terms of overall mentions – slightly ahead of other common priorities including health care (17%), education/student debt (16%), and abortion/women’s rights (16%). Democrats are more likely to name the environment/climate change (36%) as a top priority for the country than any other issue. This is consistent with past research, as AP-NORC also found that climate/environment ranked as Democrats’ biggest issue priority going into 2023 and 2024.

Voters see climate/environment as one of the biggest disconnects between their own priorities and the priorities of Trump and Republicans in Congress. When asked to choose up to five issues that they believe Trump and Republicans in Congress are most focused on, just 4% of voters rank climate change and the environment among the top priorities that the Republican administration and Congress will work on. Voters perceive immigration (65%) as by far the biggest focus of Trump and Republicans, followed by inflation and the cost of living (34%), taxes (30%), jobs and the economy (29%), and government deficits and spending (29%). While just 4% of voters believe that climate change and the environment is a top focus for Trump and Republicans, 18% say that climate change and the environment is one of the issues that the government should focus most on.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new analysis of Americans’ climate concerns by Gallup, a newly published academic paper about pro-climate messaging, and new polls of Arizona voters and American farmers.

Voters consistently report holding strong favorable views of solar energy. However, despite this positive sentiment, just under half of voters report being likely to consider rooftop solar installation, highlighting a key gap between sentiments to solar and action. Younger voters and renters have greater support for solar, highlighting the potential for future solar adoption as they become homeowners or encourage their landlord to adopt solar. These findings highlight the importance of education to bridge the gap between consumer interest and action on residential solar adoption. Investments in education about the benefits of solar, including reduced energy costs – coupled with outreach to ensure voters are hearing about targeted financial incentives to bring down the upfront costs of installation – could help remove financial barriers and accelerate solar deployment and the transition to a more sustainable energy future.

Arizona voters widely agree that climate change is affecting them now, and want state policymakers to do more about it – including transitioning more to solar and wind power. By a 77%-23% margin, Arizona voters say that the state should continue rather than repeal policies that encourage the transition to clean energy like wind and solar. 77% of Arizona voters agree that using more clean energy like wind and solar would create quality jobs and strengthen Arizona’s economy. 71% of Arizona voters agree that using more clean energy like wind and solar would save Arizona families money. 70% of Arizona voters agree that climate change is already having a serious impact on their part of the country.

As expected, the economy dominated all other issues in the 2024 election. Climate change ended up being a mid-tier issue for the electorate overall. Voters who named climate change as their top issue supported Harris by a wider margin than any other group. Despite the result, this was a pro-climate electorate: Around two-thirds of voters said that they’re concerned about climate impacts in their communities, and most also want the country to prioritize clean energy over fossil fuels. Trump won in spite of his climate approach, which was a clear negative with voters. Even within the Trump coalition, there are serious concerns with his handling of climate change.

Four in ten Americans say that they worry “a great deal” about global warming or climate change, and concerns are particularly high among Black and Hispanic Americans. This new analysis reveals large differences in concern across several demographic variables, in addition to partisanship. Women, for example, are 15 points more likely to say that they worry at least “a fair amount” about global warming or climate change (69%) than men (54%). Black Americans (80%) and Hispanic Americans (80%) show the greatest concerns of any demographic segment, and they are both 26 points more likely to say that they worry at least “a fair amount” about the issue than White Americans (54%). Concerns also tend to be higher the more formal education that people have received, as Americans with postgraduate degrees (71%) are the most likely to say that they worry about climate change at least “a fair amount.” By comparison, 60% of Americans without any college education and 55% of Americans with some college education say that they worry at least “a fair amount” about climate change.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new report from Pew about Americans’ beliefs and preferences for climate policy, new polling about residential solar, and new research about the emotions behind climate activism.

Most Americans expect more extreme weather and rising global temperatures in 2025, though the U.S. public still lags behind comparable countries in predicting climate change impacts. Around two-thirds of Americans say that average global temperatures are likely to increase in 2025 (67%) and that there will likely be more extreme weather events in the U.S. in 2025 than there were in 2024 (66%). 80% of people say that global temperatures are likely to increase this year. This average is 13 points higher than in the U.S. (67%), which ranked the second-lowest of any country surveyed in its beliefs about rising global temperatures. Additionally, the cross-country average of people expecting more extreme weather in their country this year is six points higher (72%) than in the U.S. (66%). That said, Americans’ beliefs that extreme weather will get worse in their country this year are roughly on par with comparable nations such as Great Britain (70%), Canada (68%), and Germany (63%).