Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population (n = 1,011; including 861 registered voters), these findings describe Americans’ beliefs and attitudes regarding climate justice, and registered voters’ policy support and political engagement related to climate justice. The survey was fielded from April 18 – May 1, 2023. This report builds on two previous reports based on data from this same survey that focused on Americans’ beliefs and attitudes about global warming, and their support for various climate and energy policies.
This executive summary presents the results for the overall population, while the main text of the report also breaks the results down by political party and ideology.
Americans’ Beliefs About Who Is Harmed Most by Global Warming
- About half of Americans (49%) think global warming harms some groups in the United States more than others. When asked to name which groups faced greater harm than others, the most common response was “People with lower incomes” (22%).
- When asked directly, nearly half of Americans (48%) think global warming harms lower-income people more than it harms wealthier people. Fewer Americans think global warming harms people of color more than it harms white people (32%), or that global warming harms women more than it harms men (13%). About four in ten Americans (40%) think global warming harms everyone about equally.
- About one in three Americans (34%) agree that a history of racist policies makes people of color more likely than white people to be harmed by global warming.
Americans’ Beliefs and Attitudes About Climate Justice
- About one in three Americans (34%) say they have heard or read at least “a little” about climate justice, while most Americans say they have not heard or read anything about it (65%).
- Among Americans who have heard or read at least “a little” about climate justice, many did not provide a response when asked the first thing that comes to mind when they think about the term “climate justice.”
- After reading a brief description of climate justice, about half of Americans (53%) say they support its goals.
Registered Voters’ Support for Climate Justice Policies
- After reading a brief description of climate justice, about four in ten registered voters (39%) think climate justice should be a “high” or “very high” priority for the president and Congress.
- Large majorities of registered voters support a variety of policies that promote climate justice goals, including:
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- Creating more parks and green spaces in low-income communities and communities of color (81%)
- Strengthening enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution (77%)
- Providing federal funding to make residential buildings in low-income communities more energy efficient (76%)
- Developing a national program to train people from low-income communities and communities of color for new jobs in the renewable energy industry (75%)
- Developing a national program to train people who work in the fossil fuel industry for new jobs in the renewable energy industry (75%)
- Increasing federal funding to low-income communities and communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution (70%)
- Transitioning the U.S. economy (including electric utilities, transportation, buildings, and industry) from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050 (69%)
- More than four in ten registered voters (45%) agree that the groups most harmed by global warming should have the opportunity to play a key role in government decisions about how to address it.
Registered Voters’ Personal Engagement with Climate Justice
- One in four registered voters (25%) say they are either “definitely” (7%) or “probably” (18%) willing to join a campaign to convince elected officials to take action to advance climate justice or are already currently participating in such a campaign (1%).
- More than four in ten registered voters (44%) say they are more likely to vote for a candidate for public office who supports climate justice.