Drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. adult population (n = 1,060; including the 930 registered voters whose data are used in this report), these findings describe how registered voters view a variety of domestic climate and energy policies. The survey was fielded from April 17–26, 2026.
This executive summary presents the results for all registered voters, while the main text of the report also breaks the results down by political party and ideology.
Global Warming as a Voting Issue
- 58% of registered voters would prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming, while 14% would prefer to vote for a candidate who opposes action.
- 42% say they would like to hear from political candidates about efforts to reduce global warming more often, while 23% would like to hear about this less often.
- 31% say they will only vote for a congressional candidate who supports increasing the use of renewable energy, while 7% will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of renewable energy.
- 25% say they will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of fossil fuels, while 14% will only vote for a candidate who supports increasing the use of fossil fuels.
Global Warming and Clean Energy as Government Priorities
- 49% of registered voters think global warming should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.
- 58% of registered voters think developing sources of clean energy should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.
Support for Climate Policies
- 88% support federal funding to help farmers improve practices to protect and restore the soil so it absorbs and stores more carbon.
- 78% support funding more research into renewable energy sources.
- 77% support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
- 65% support transitioning the U.S. economy from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050.
Energy Production
- 72% of registered voters support generating renewable energy on public land in the U.S.
- 53% support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast.
- 46% support drilling and mining fossil fuels on public land in the U.S.
- 31% support drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Federal Climate Response, Research, and Information
- 91% of registered voters think funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should either be increased (49%) or kept about the same as now (42%).
- 77% of registered voters oppose ordering all federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and the EPA) to stop doing research on global warming.
- 77% of registered voters oppose ordering all federal agencies to stop providing information about global warming to the public.
Protecting People from Environmental Harms
- 92% of registered voters support requiring companies to protect workers from dangerous levels of heat.
- 78% support strengthening enforcement of industrial pollution limits in low-income communities and communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution.
- 77% support preventing utilities from shutting off the electricity or gas of customers who are late paying their bills during periods of extreme cold or heat.
State and Local Climate-Related Policies
- 89% of registered voters support state laws allowing residents to install small plug-in solar panels that directly generate electricity for their home.
- 65% support requiring electric utilities in their states to produce 100% of their electricity from clean, renewable sources by 2050.
- 63% support allowing states to set higher fuel efficiency standards than the federal government for new cars and trucks.
- 51% support their city, town, or county government declaring global warming a local emergency.
- 51% support their governor declaring global warming a statewide emergency.
Local Energy Infrastructure
Many registered voters support building energy infrastructure in their local area:
- Solar farms (56%)
- Community solar (53%)
- Wind farms (50%)
- High-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy (50%)
- Electric vehicle charging stations (49%)
- Nuclear power plants (36%)
- Oil and gas pipelines (35%)
- Large-scale battery facilities for the power grid (30%)
Global Warming and the Cost of Living
- 67% of registered voters think global warming is affecting the cost of living in the United States.
- 64% think global warming is affecting their own cost of living.
- Registered voters say global warming is causing costs they pay for the following to increase: home utility bills (66%), groceries (61%), owning and operating a car/truck (56%), home insurance (51%), home repair and maintenance (43%), and health care (35%).
Transitioning from Fossil Fuels to Clean Energy
- 68% of registered voters say the U.S. should use more renewable energy than it does today, and 56% say the U.S. should use less fossil fuels than it does today.
- 56% say improving people’s health, reducing air pollution, and/or providing a better life for our children and grandchildren are important reasons to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy.
- When asked to choose their single most important reason to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy, registered voters were most likely to say reducing global warming (13%), followed by providing a better life for our children and grandchildren (11%), getting energy from sources that will never run out (7%), and protecting God’s creation (7%).
- 58% think policies intended to transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy will either make electricity less expensive (33%) or have no impact on the price of electricity (24%).
Gas Prices and Electric Vehicles
- 78% of registered voters say they are worried about the current price of gasoline.
- 84% say the current price of gasoline is affecting their family’s budget.
- 42% say President Trump and his administration are most responsible for the recent increase in gas prices.
- 33% say they are likely to consider an electric vehicle (EV) the next time they buy or lease a car or truck.
Data Centers
- 58% of registered voters oppose building data centers in their local area.
- 60% think that if a data center opened in their local area, their electricity bills would increase.
- 74% support a proposal requiring new data centers to offset their electricity use by installing rooftop solar on, and weatherizing, local homes.
Who Should Act?
- Half or more registered voters say the following should do more to address global warming: Corporations and industry (66%), the U.S. Congress (61%), President Trump (61%), the Republican Party (60%), citizens themselves (56%), the Democratic Party (55%), local government officials (55%), their governor (53%), and the media (51%). Forty-two percent say they should do more themselves.
- 59% support making fossil fuel companies pay for a portion of the damage to local communities caused by global warming.
Political Advocacy
- 2% of registered voters say they are currently participating in a campaign to convince elected officials to take action to reduce global warming. Additionally, 10% say they would “definitely” join such a campaign, and 19% would “probably” join one.
- 51% say they would sign a petition about global warming if asked. Additionally, 38% would attend a local neighborhood meeting, 34% would attend a local government meeting, 33% would donate money, 31% would volunteer their time, 31% would contact government officials, and 29% would meet with an elected official or their staff.
- 28% say they would support an organization engaging in non-violent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse, 18% say they would personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience, and 5% say they would be willing to get arrested as part of such an action.
- 10% have contacted government officials in the past year to urge them to take action to reduce global warming.
Efficacy
- 46% of registered voters are at least “moderately confident” that people like them, working together, can affect what their local government does about global warming, 44% are confident they can affect what their state government does, 37% are confident they can affect what the federal government does, and 36% are confident they can affect what corporations do about global warming.
- 45% are at least “moderately confident” that state and local government policies can help limit global warming.
Information About Global Warming
- Majorities of registered voters trust the following as sources of information about global warming:
- Climate scientists (71%)
- Family and friends (69%)
- Their primary care doctor (65%)
- Television weather reporters (63%)
- Local news organizations (54%)
- Fewer trust national news organizations (46%), artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots (24%), or social media posts (18%).
- Registered voters are interested in news stories related to global warming, including how global warming is affecting the cost of living (56%), actions being taken that make global warming worse (54%), actions that are being taken by businesses in response to global warming (53%), actions being taken by the U.S. government in response to global warming (53%), the impacts of global warming on their local community (51%), actions being taken in their local community in response to global warming (50%), impacts of global warming around the world (50%), actions being taken by foreign governments in response to global warming (49%), impacts of global warming elsewhere in the U.S. (49%), the causes of global warming (49%), actions being taken to oppose solutions to global warming (48%), and whether global warming is or is not happening (38%).