Report · Jun 17, 2025
Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2025
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Teresa Myers, Joshua Ettinger, Julia Fine, Emily Richards, Matthew Goldberg and Jennifer Marlon
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 in the future.
A large majority of registered voters (74%) say that, in the future, the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources (solar, wind, and geothermal) than it does today, while only 11% say the U.S. should use less. Large majorities of liberal Democrats (97%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (85%) say the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources, as do about two-thirds of liberal/moderate Republicans (68%; +15 percentage points since we last asked this question in Fall 2024) and 44% 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 (57%) 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 21% say the U.S. should use more. Large majorities of liberal Democrats (88%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (72%) say the U.S. should use less fossil fuels. More liberal/moderate Republicans say the U.S. should use less fossil fuels (43%) than say it should use more (27%). 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 (25%).
