Report · Jan 30, 2025
Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2024
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Teresa Myers, Marija Verner, Jennifer Marlon, Matthew Goldberg, Joshua Ettinger, Julia Fine and Kathryn Thier
Filed under: Policy & Politics
6. Support for Transitioning from Fossil Fuels to Clean Energy
6.1 Most registered voters think the U.S. should use more renewable energy and less fossil fuels.
A large majority of registered voters (71%) say that, in the future, the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources (solar, wind, and geothermal) than it does today, while only 12% say the U.S. should use less. Large majorities of liberal Democrats (95%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (88%) say the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources, as do about half of liberal/moderate Republicans (53%) and 43% of conservative Republicans. In each of the political groups, more people say the U.S. should use more renewable energy than say it should use less.
A majority of registered voters (61%) also say that, in the future, the U.S. should use less fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) than it does today, while only 17% say the U.S. should use more. Large majorities of liberal Democrats (90%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (78%) say the U.S. should use less fossil fuels. More liberal/moderate Republicans say the U.S. should use less fossil fuels (34%) than say it should use more (26%), while a plurality say it should use the same amount as today (40%). Conservative Republicans are the only group in which more people say the U.S. should use more fossil fuels (38%) than say it should use less (30%).
