Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

3. Support for Policies to Reduce the Pollution that Causes Global Warming

3.1. Most registered voters support climate-friendly policies.

Registered voters across the political spectrum support many energy policies designed to reduce carbon pollution and fossil fuel dependence and promote clean energy, including:

• Providing federal funding to help farmers improve practices to protect and restore the soil so it absorbs and stores more carbon: 85% of registered voters, including 97% of liberal Democrats, 94% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 89% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 67% of conservative Republicans.
• Providing tax rebates to people who purchase energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels: 72% of registered voters, including 96% of liberal Democrats, 89% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 69% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 42% of conservative Republicans.
• Providing tax credits or rebates to encourage people to buy electric appliances, such as heat pumps and induction stoves, that run on electricity instead of oil or gas: 71% of registered voters, including 93% of liberal Democrats, 89% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 71% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 41% of conservative Republicans.
• Requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon tax and using the money to reduce other taxes (such as income tax) by an equal amount [i.e., a revenue-neutral carbon tax]: 66% of registered voters, including 92% of liberal Democrats, 85% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 60% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 28% of conservative Republicans.
• Transitioning the U.S. economy (including electric utilities, transportation, buildings, and industry) from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050: 64% of registered voters, including 96% of liberal Democrats, 91% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 53% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 21% of conservative Republicans.
• Requiring electric utilities to produce 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035: 63% of registered voters, including 95% of liberal Democrats, 83% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 57% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 20% of conservative Republicans.

3.2. A large majority of registered voters support renewable energy generation on public land.

A large majority of registered voters (78%) support generating renewable energy (solar and wind) on public land in the United States. This includes nearly all liberal Democrats (94%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (91%) as well as a large majority of liberal/moderate Republicans (79%) and about half of conservative Republicans (55%).

Fewer registered voters support fossil-fuel production in the United States, including:

• Expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast: 52% of registered voters; 81% of conservative Republicans, 76% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 39% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 26% of liberal Democrats.
• Drilling for and mining fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) on public land in the U.S.: 49% of registered voters; 80% of conservative Republicans, 73% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 33% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 20% of liberal Democrats.

3.3. A majority of registered voters support building clean energy infrastructure in their local area.

Majorities of registered voters support climate-friendly energy production and distribution infrastructure in their local area, including solar farms (61%), wind farms (55%), electric vehicle charging stations (52%), and high-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy (52%). This generally includes majorities of liberal Democrats and moderate/conservative Democrats, and many liberal/moderate Republicans, but fewer conservative Republicans:

• Solar farms: liberal Democrats, 81%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 74%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 54%; conservative Republicans, 37%.
• Wind farms: liberal Democrats, 76%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 69%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 50%; conservative Republicans, 30%.
• Electric vehicle charging stations: liberal Democrats, 83%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 65%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 36%; conservative Republicans, 25%.
• High-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy: liberal Democrats, 66%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 60%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 41%; conservative Republicans, 42%.

Fewer registered voters support building nuclear power plants in their local area (31%), including 43% of conservative Republicans, 29% of liberal Democrats, 28% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 20% of liberal/moderate Republicans.

3.4. A majority of registered voters would support a president declaring a national emergency to act on global warming.

More than half of registered voters (58%) would either “strongly” (26%) or “somewhat” (32%) support a U.S. president declaring global warming a national emergency to act on it if Congress does not take further action (refer to data tables, p. 48). This would be supported by large majorities of liberal Democrats (90%, with 56% saying they “strongly support” it) and moderate/conservative Democrats (85%; 36% strongly support). By contrast, 41% of liberal/moderate Republicans and 16% of conservative Republicans would support it, while 59% of liberal/moderate Republicans and 84% of conservative Republicans would oppose it (including 66% who would “strongly oppose” it).