Politics & Global Warming

Original post by Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to release a new report “Politics & Global Warming” based on our latest national survey, conducted in March 2021. Overall, we find that while Democratic support for action on climate change and clean energy remains high, Republican support – particularly for clean energy policies – is dropping.

For example, most Democrats think global warming should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress, while relatively few Republicans agree.

More significantly, however, while Democrats continue to say developing sources of clean energy should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress, Republican prioritization of clean energy has dropped dramatically since November 2019.

At the same time, large majorities of Democrats and Republicans continue to support a variety of conservation and restoration policies, including re-establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps and creating jobs programs for unemployed coal, oil, and gas workers to close down old coal mines and abandoned wells, and restore the natural landscape.

The full report includes many other important findings, including public support for a variety of policies to reduce carbon pollution and promote clean energy, declaring climate change a national emergency, developing clean energy vs. fossil fuels as a strategy to grow the economy and create jobs, support for infrastructure investments, who should act to reduce global warming, and support for mitigation and adaptation actions by state and local governments.

As always, thanks for your interest and support!

Cheers,

Tony
—–
Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D.
Director, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Yale School of the Environment
(203) 432-4865
Twitter: @ecotone2
environment.yale.edu/climate
yaleclimateconnections.org