Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

3. Support for Climate Policies

3.1 Most registered voters support climate-friendly policies.

Registered voters across the political spectrum “strongly” or “somewhat” 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: 88% of registered voters, including 95% of liberal Democrats, 94% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 85% of both liberal/moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans.
• Funding more research into renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power: 78% of registered voters, including 98% of liberal Democrats, 95% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 72% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 52% of conservative Republicans.
• Regulating carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas) as a pollutant: 77% of registered voters, including 94% of liberal Democrats, 91% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 73% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 56% of conservative Republicans.
• Transitioning the U.S. economy (including electric utilities, transportation, buildings, and industry) from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050: 65% of registered voters, including 93% of liberal Democrats, 86% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 55% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 31% of conservative Republicans.

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

A large majority of registered voters (72%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support generating renewable energy (solar and wind) on public land in the United States. This includes large majorities of liberal Democrats (92%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (90%), about two-thirds of liberal/moderate Republicans (65%), and about half of conservative Republicans (48%).

About half of registered voters (53%) support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast. This includes large majorities of conservative Republicans (85%) and liberal/moderate Republicans (70%), as well as 46% of moderate/conservative Democrats, but only 18% of liberal Democrats.

Fewer registered voters support other fossil-fuel production in the United States, including:

• Drilling for and mining fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) on public land in the U.S.: 46% of registered voters, including 77% of conservative Republicans, 62% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 35% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 14% of liberal Democrats.
• Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: 31% of registered voters, including 59% of conservative Republicans, 35% of liberal/moderate Republicans, 23% of moderate/conservative Democrats, and 7% of liberal Democrats.

3.3 A large majority of registered voters oppose policies to eliminate federal climate research and information.

A large majority of registered voters “strongly” or “somewhat” oppose policies to eliminate federal climate research and information, including:

• Ordering all federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and the EPA) to stop doing research on global warming: opposed by 77% of registered voters, including 91% of liberal Democrats, 82% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 79% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 59% of conservative Republicans.
• Ordering all federal agencies (such as NASA, NOAA, and the EPA) to stop providing information about global warming to the public: opposed by 77% of registered voters, including 88% of liberal Democrats, 82% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 70% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 64% of conservative Republicans.

3.4 Nearly all registered voters think FEMA’s funding should be kept the same or increased.

Nearly all registered voters (91%) think funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should either be increased or kept about the same as now. This includes about half (49%) who support increasing funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “a lot” or “some,” and 42% who think FEMA’s funding should be kept “about the same as now.” Majorities of liberal Democrats (81%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (59%) support increasing funding for FEMA, while majorities of liberal/moderate Republicans (58%) and conservative Republicans (63%) think funding should be kept about the same as now.

In contrast, few registered voters (7%) support decreasing FEMA’s funding “a lot” or “some,” including only 1% of liberal Democrats, 8% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 10% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 11% of conservative Republicans.

3.5 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%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support requiring companies to protect workers from dangerous levels of heat. This includes 98% of liberal Democrats, 96% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 90% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 86% of conservative Republicans.

A large, bipartisan majority (78%) also supports 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 94% of liberal Democrats, 86% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 78% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 57% of conservative Republicans.

Additionally, 77% of registered voters 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, including 90% of liberal Democrats, 80% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 75% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 62% of conservative Republicans.

3.6 A majority of registered voters support state and local climate-related policies.

A large majority of registered voters across the political spectrum (89%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support state laws allowing residents to install small plug-in solar panels that directly generate electricity for their home, including 96% of liberal Democrats, 89% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 88% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 84% of conservative Republicans.

Majorities of registered voters also support:

• Requiring electric utilities in their states to produce 100% of their electricity from clean, renewable sources by 2050: 65% of registered voters, including 94% of liberal Democrats, 78% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 63% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 31% of conservative Republicans.
• Allowing states to set higher fuel efficiency standards than the federal government for new cars and trucks: 63% of registered voters, including 89% of liberal Democrats, 73% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 55% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 37% of conservative Republicans.
• Their city, town, or county government declaring global warming a local emergency: 51% of registered voters, including 83% of liberal Democrats, 74% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 35% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 18% of conservative Republicans.
• Their governor declaring global warming a statewide emergency: 51% of registered voters, including 84% of liberal Democrats, 72% of moderate/conservative Democrats, 36% of liberal/moderate Republicans, and 16% of conservative Republicans.

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

A majority of registered voters “strongly” or “somewhat” support building solar farms (56%) in their local area and about half support building wind farms (50%), high-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy (50%), and electric vehicle charging stations (49%). These include majorities of liberal Democrats and moderate/conservative Democrats and many liberal/moderate Republicans, but fewer conservative Republicans:

• Solar farms: liberal Democrats, 83%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 68%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 49%; conservative Republicans, 29%.
• Wind farms: liberal Democrats, 80%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 61%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 40%; conservative Republicans, 23%.
• High-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy: liberal Democrats, 63%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 53%; conservative Republicans, 44%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 41%.
• Electric vehicle charging stations: liberal Democrats, 78%; moderate/conservative Democrats, 55%; liberal/moderate Republicans, 42%; conservative Republicans, 25%.

Fewer registered voters support building nuclear power plants (36%), oil and gas pipelines (35%), or large-scale battery facilities for the power grid (30%) in their local area.

3.8 A majority of registered voters support community solar development in their local area.

A majority of registered voters (53%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support community solar development in their local area, while 12% “strongly” or “somewhat” oppose it, and many (35%) neither support nor oppose it. About three-quarters of liberal Democrats (76%) support community solar development in their local area, as do a majority of moderate/conservative Democrats (61%). Many more liberal/moderate Republicans support local community solar development (48%) than oppose it (11%), while conservative Republicans are more evenly split (32% support and 27% oppose).