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 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: 87% of registered voters, including 96% of liberal Democrats, 90% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 88% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 77% of conservative Republicans.
• Funding more research into renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power: 77% of registered voters, including 100% of liberal Democrats, 92% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 73% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 47% of conservative Republicans.
• Regulating carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas) as a pollutant: 74% of registered voters, including 94% of liberal Democrats, 88% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 76% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 45% of conservative Republicans.
• Transitioning the U.S. economy (including electric utilities, transportation, buildings, and industry) from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050: 66% of registered voters, including 96% of liberal Democrats, 86% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 57% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 26% of conservative Republicans.

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

Three-fourths of registered voters (75%) support generating renewable energy (solar and wind) on public land in the United States. This includes large majorities of liberal Democrats (94%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (86%), and liberal/moderate Republicans (75%) and about half of conservative Republicans (51%).

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: 49% of registered voters, including 81% of conservative Republicans, 63% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 41% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 17% of liberal Democrats.
• Drilling for and mining fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) on public land in the U.S.: 45% of registered voters, including 81% of conservative Republicans, 57% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 31% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 13% of liberal Democrats.
• Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: 33% of registered voters, including 63% of conservative Republicans, 41% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 21% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 6% of liberal Democrats.

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

A majority of registered voters support building climate-friendly energy production and distribution infrastructure in their local area, including solar farms (57%) and wind farms (53%), and about half support building electric vehicle charging stations (49%) and high-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy (48%). These include majorities of liberal Democrats and moderate/conservative Democrats, but fewer liberal/moderate and conservative Republicans:

• Solar farms: liberal Democrats, 86%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 71%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 43%; conservative Republicans, 26%.
• Wind farms: liberal Democrats, 86%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 65%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 36%; conservative Republicans, 22%.
• Electric vehicle charging stations: liberal Democrats, 83%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 59%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 32%; conservative Republicans, 22%.
• High-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy: liberal Democrats, 69%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 51%; conservative Republicans, 38%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 34%.

Fewer registered voters support building nuclear power plants in their local area (36%), including 45% of conservative Republicans, 37% of liberal Democrats, 32% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 30% of moderate/conservative Democrats.

3.4 A majority of registered voters support protecting people from disproportionate harm from environmental hazards.

A very large majority of registered voters across the political spectrum (92%) support requiring companies to protect workers from dangerous levels of heat. This includes 98% of liberal Democrats, 96% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 94% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 86% of conservative Republicans.

Similarly, a large, politically diverse majority (80%) support strengthening enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution. This includes 97% of liberal Democrats, 90% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 78% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 61% of conservative Republicans.

3.5 A large majority of registered voters oppose eliminating programs related to global warming.

A large majority of registered voters oppose eliminating programs related to global warming, including:

• Eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): 79% of registered voters, including 98% of liberal Democrats, 86% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 75% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 60% of conservative Republicans (an increase of 13 percentage points since we last asked this question in Spring 2025).
• Ordering all federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and the EPA) to stop providing information about global warming to the public: 77% of registered voters, including 94% of liberal Democrats, 81% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 77% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 57% of conservative Republicans.
• Ordering all federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and the EPA) to stop doing research on global warming: 77% of registered voters, including 95% of liberal Democrats, 84% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 76% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 57% of conservative Republicans.
• Prohibiting the construction of new offshore wind farms: 65% of registered voters, including 82% of liberal Democrats, 69% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 58% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 51% of conservative Republicans.