Report · Jun 9, 2026
Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2026
By Anthony Leiserowitz, John Kotcher, Seth Rosenthal, Emily Goddard, Joshua Ettinger, Teresa Myers, Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Julia Fine, Emily Richards, Matthew Goldberg, Jennifer Marlon and Edward Maibach
Filed under: Policy & Politics
8. Who Should Take Action to Address Global Warming?
8.1 Majorities of registered voters want corporations and industry, government, and citizens to do more to address global warming.
About two-thirds of registered voters say corporations and industry should do either “much more” or “more” to address global warming (66% of registered voters, including 93% of liberal Democrats, 85% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 57% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 35% of conservative Republicans).
Half or more of registered voters, including majorities of both liberal and moderate/conservative Democrats and many liberal/moderate Republicans, say the U.S. Congress (61%), President Trump (61%), the Republican Party (60%), citizens themselves (56%), the Democratic Party (55%), their local government officials (55%), their governor (53%), and the media (51%) should do more. Forty-two percent of registered voters say they themselves should do more to address global warming.
Half of liberal/moderate Republicans (50%) say their party (the Republican Party) should do more to address global warming, while only 22% of conservative Republicans say so. Large majorities of both liberal Democrats (85%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (75%) say their party (the Democratic Party) should do more.
8.2 A majority of registered voters support making fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of the damages to local communities caused by global warming.
About six in ten registered voters (59%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support making fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of the damage to local communities caused by global warming. This includes large majorities of liberal Democrats (89%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (72%), about half of liberal/moderate Republicans (52%), and one-quarter of conservative Republicans (25%).
