Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

2. Who is Responsible for Action on Global Warming?

2.1. About three in four registered voters want corporations and industry to do more to address global warming. Most voters also want more action from citizens and government.

Across party lines, half or more registered voters say corporations and industry should do more to address global warming (74% of all registered voters; including 92% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 51% of Republicans).

Half or more of registered voters, including Democrats, Independents, and liberal/moderate Republicans, think citizens, the U.S. Congress, the Republican Party, President Trump, and/or their own member of Congress should do more to address global warming (see Data Tables, pp. 34–37). Half or more Democrats and Independents also think the Democratic Party and/or their local government officials should do more, and a majority of Democrats think their governor and/or the media should do more.

About half of liberal/moderate Republicans (54%) think their party (the Republican Party) should do more to address global warming, while only one in four conservative Republicans (25%) think so. Large majorities of both liberal Democrats (86%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (80%) think their party (the Democratic Party) should do more. Majorities of Independents think the Republican Party (63%) and the Democratic Party (59%) should do more.

2.2. Most Democrats think global warming should be a “high” or “very high” priority for the president and Congress. About half of Independents also think so.

A large majority of Democrats (83%) think global warming should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress. About half of Independents (53%) also think global warming should be a high priority, but few Republicans (22%) think so.

Over the past five years (since October 2014), the percentage of Democrats who think global warming should be a high priority for the president and Congress has increased by 17 percentage points (see Data Tables, p. 30).

2.3. Most registered voters think developing sources of clean energy should be a “high” or “very high” priority for the president and Congress.

Many registered voters across parties, including majorities of Democrats (89%) and Independents (68%), and about half of Republicans (49%) think developing sources of clean energy should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.

Democrats think global warming (83%; see previous section) and developing sources of clean energy (89%) are similarly high priorities for the president and Congress. In contrast, clean energy is more highly prioritized than global warming by Independents (by 15 percentage points), and by Republicans (by 27 percentage points).