PollingtheAmericanPubliconClimateChange

April2013

This fact sheet provides information on climate change polling in the United States over the last year from a variety of sources.Overallthestudiesshow: TheAmericanpublicsconcernaboutclimatechange,whilestillbelow2007levels,isontherisenationwide. Thistrendholdsacrosspartylines,withgreaternumbersofDemocrats,Independents,andRepublicansviewingthis asaseriousissuethatwillaffectthemintheirlifetimes. Additionally,moreareconvincedthatglobalwarmingiscausedbyhumanactivitiesratherthannaturalcauses. Higherpercentagesofminoritiessayclimatechangeishappeningandsupportthepresidenttakingstepstoaddress theissue. WhileamajorityofAmericanssupporttheincreaseddeploymentofcleanandrenewableenergyandregulationof powerplantemissions,supportremainsweakforacarbontaxorcapandtrademeasures.

AmericansWhoSaythatClimateChangeisHappening
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2006

PewCenter Duke Yale/GeorgeMason Stanford BrookingsInstitute

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

AmericansWhoSaythatClimateChangeisCausedbyHumanActivity
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2006

PewCenter Duke Yale/GeorgeMason Rasmussen Stanford Gallup 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (202) 628-1400 www.eesi.org

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PercentageofAmericanswhosupportthe Presidenttakingsignificantstepstoaddress climatechangenow(NLCVpollFeb.2013)

Democrats Independents Republicans AfricanAmericans Hispanics Caucasians Under40 Over40 89% 62% 38% 86% 76% 60% 70% 62%

Howseriousofathreatisclimatechange?
(DukepollJan.2013) Notthat muchofa threat 15% Notathreat atall 1% Veryserious threat 38%

Party

Somewhat serious threat 46%

Age

Race

CLIMATECHANGESURVEYS:20122013

StanfordWoodsInstitute NaturalResourcesDefenseCouncil

March1318,2013

Sample:1,174Americanadults

77%saythatrisingsealevelscausedbyglobalwarmingwillbemoderately,very,orextremelyseriousforthe UnitedStatesoverthenexthundredyears 82%saythatweshouldprepareforcoastaldamagecausedbysealevelrisebeforeithappens March1317,2013 Sample:1,501Americanadults

PewResearchCenter

69%saythereissolidevidencethattheaverageglobaltemperaturehasbeenrisingoverthepastfewdecades, upfrom57%in2010 42%saytheEarthiswarmingduemostlytohumanactivity 33%saythatglobalwarmingisaveryseriousproblem,downsixpointsfromOctober2012 March710,2013 Sample:1,022Americanadults

Gallup

58%saytheyworryafairamounttoagreatdealaboutglobalwarming 62%saythereisscientificconsensusonglobalwarming 64%thinkglobalwarmingwillbeathreattothemortheirwayoflifeintheirlifetime February1318,2013 Sample:1,504Americanadults

PewResearchCenter

62%ofAmericansfavorsettingstricteremissionlimitsonpowerplants 54%sayweshouldinvestinrenewableenergysourcesupsevenpointsfromOctober2012while35%thinkwe shouldexpandtheproductionofoil,gas,andcoal 47%ofDemocratsand15%ofRepublicansthinkitisessentialthatthepresidentandCongressenactnewclimate changepoliciesthisyear February12,2013 Sample:1,218registeredvoters

62%sayitisimportanttocombatclimatechangeforthesakeofourchildrenandourfuture 57%saythatthestepsObamalaidoutfortacklingclimatechangeinhisStateoftheUnionaddressshouldbea priority 58%thinkclimatechangeiscausingrecentextremeweatherevents,andthatwemustactbeforeitstoolate 60%supportthepresidentusinghisauthoritytoreducedangerouscarbonpollution

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RasmussenReports NationalLeagueofConservationVoters YaleandGeorgeMasonUniversities NationalWildlifeFederation RasmussenReports

February12,2013

Sample:1,000likelyvoters

61%sayitsatleastsomewhatimportantforCongresstopassmajorenergylegislationthisyeartoreduce climatechange,including38%whosayitsveryimportant. February35,2013 Sample:800registeredvoters

93%agreethatAmericanshaveamoralobligationtofuturegenerationstoleavethemaplanetthatisnot pollutedordamaged 61%sayglobalwarmingisaffectingthemorwillaffectthempersonallyintheirlifetime 65%ofAmericanssupportPresidentObamatakingsignificantstepstoaddressclimatechangenow January1622,2013 Sample:1,089Americanadults

DukeUniversity

84%thinkclimatechangeisprobablyhappening,including50%whoareconvinceditishappening 92%ofDemocrats,85%ofIndependentsand69%ofRepublicansthinkclimatechangeisaseriousthreat 31%ofDemocratsand9%ofRepublicanstrustscientiststoprovideimpartialinformationonclimatechange 64%supportrequiringutilitiestogeneratealargeamountoftheirpowerfromlowcarbonsources 29%ofAmericansstronglysupportorsomewhatsupportacarbontax 64%supportgreenhousegasregulationsforfactoriesandpowerplantsandincreasedvehiclefuelefficiency January1415,2013 Sample:814Americanadults

CNN/ORCInternational

49%agreewithPresidentObamathatglobalwarmingisaprovenfactandiscausedbyemissionsfromcars, powerplantsandfactories,downsevenpointsfrom2007 January1227,2013 Sample:726RegisteredRepublicans

52%saythatclimatechangeishappening,versus26%whosayitisntand22%whodontknow 35%ofrespondentsagreewiththeRepublicanPartyspositiononclimatechange 62%saythattheirelectedrepresentativesareunresponsivetotheirviewsonclimatechange 77%supportusingmorerenewableenergyintheU.S.thanweareusingtoday;51%supportusinglessfossilfuels November26December5,2012 Sample:998Americans

UniversityofMichigan

51%ofRepublicanssaytheythinkclimatechangeisoccurring,thefirstmajoritysince2008 FollowingHurricaneSandy,45%saidthatextremeweathereventssuchasmajorstormsandfloodshadaverylarge impactontheirbeliefthattheEarthisgettingwarmer November7,2012 Sample:1,016Americanadults

57%sayclimatechangeismakingextremeweathersuchasHurricaneSandyandsummerdroughtsmoresevere 69%aregreatlyorsomewhatworriedaboutthegrowingcostandrisksofsevereweatherbroughtonbyclimate change November5,2012 Sample:1,000likelyvoters

68%thinkglobalwarmingisaseriousproblem,upfrom46percentin2009 August31September12,2012 Sample:839registeredvoters

YaleandGeorgeMasonUniversities

61%wouldsupportacandidatewhoisforarevenueneutralcarbontaxifitcreatedmoreAmericanjobs 77%thinkclimatechangeshouldbeahighormediumpriorityforthepresidentandCongress 61%saytheU.S.shouldreducegreenhousegasemissionsregardlessofwhetherothercountriestakeaction 66%supportregulationofcarbondioxideasapollutant,downfrom80%in2008

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 YaleandGeorgeMasonUniversities NationalWildlifeFederation UniversityofTexas Thisfactsheetisavailableelectronically(withhyperlinkstothesurveys)atwww.eesi.org/papers.

August31September12,2012

Sample:1,061Americanadults

70%ofAmericansarealarmed,concerned,orcautiousaboutclimatechange,while9%aredisengagedand21% aredoubtfulordismissive Publichealth,reducingourdependenceonforeignoil,creatinggreenjobsandimprovingtheeconomyrankamong thefivetopperceivedbenefitsofthenationtakingactiontoreducefossilfueluseandglobalwarming August23September1,2012 Sample:800huntersandanglers

69%ofsportsmensupportreducingcarbondioxideemissionsthatcontributetoclimatechange 66%thinkwehaveamoralresponsibilitytoconfrontglobalwarmingtoprotectourchildrensfuture 49%ofsportsmenpreferprotectingnaturalresourcesonpubliclandsovertheiruseforoilandgasextraction, whengivenachoicebetweenthetwooptions(35%preferredprioritizingfossilfuelproduction) July1216,2012 Sample:1,039onlinerespondents

70%thinktheclimateischanging,upfrom65%inMarch2012 June1426,2012 Sample:1,131registeredHispanicvoters

SierraClubandNationalCouncilofLaRaza

77%ofLatinosthinkthatglobalclimatechangeisalreadyhappening,comparedto52%ofAmericansoverall 83%agreethatcoalplantsandoilrefineriesareathingofthepast.Weneedtolooktowardthefutureanduse moreenergyfromcleansources 86%preferthatthegovernmentinvestinrenewableenergysourcessuchassolarandwind 58%wouldpaymoreontheirmonthlyelectricitybillstoreceivetheirelectricityfromcleanenergysources June1321,2012 Sample:804adults

StanfordUniversity/WashingtonPost

55%thinkagreatdealorgoodamountcanbedonetoreducefutureglobalwarming,while60%sayitwill beextremelyorverydifficulttostopit 74%opposethefederalgovernmentincreasingtaxesonelectricitytoreduceclimatechange May25June8,2012 Sample:1,877Americanadults

TheChicagoCouncilonForeignAffairs

45%thinkthegovernmentisntdoingenoughtostopclimatechange,35%thinkitisdoingtherightamount,and 18%thinkitisdoingtoomuch 42%thinkthatscientistsviewsonclimatechangeareevenlydivided,whereas38%thinkthereisaconsensus betweenscientistsontheissue 33%thinkthattacklingclimatechangeshouldbeaveryimportantforeignpolicygoalfortheU.S.

Author:MargueriteSuozzoGole Editor:BlaiseSheridan The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus dedicated to finding innovative environmental and energy solutions. EESI works to protect the climate and ensure a healthy, secure, and sustainable future for America through policymaker education, coalition building, and policy development in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, transportation,buildings,andurbanplanning.
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