3.1 Most Americans think coal and nuclear energy are harmful to people’s health.
About two-thirds of Americans (65%) view coal as “extremely,”, “very,” or “moderately” harmful to people’s health, and about half (53%) think nuclear energy is at least “moderately” harmful. Smaller (but increased) proportions of Americans think natural gas (38%, +9 percentage points since 2018), wind (15%, +9 points), and solar energy (12%, +7 points) are harmful to people’s health.