Climate Note · Sep 28, 2021
Public support for climate action by the president and Congress is rising
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Jennifer Carman, Liz Neyens, Jennifer Marlon, Karine Lacroix and Matthew Goldberg
Filed under: Policy & Politics
We are pleased to share a short report on registered voters’ support for climate action from our latest nationally representative Climate Change in the American Mind survey, which was conducted this month. The results are timely, as members of Congress are deciding whether to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a larger budget reconciliation bill, both of which will make major national investments in climate action.
As we reported yesterday, a record number of Americans now think climate change is happening, are worried about it, and say global warming is harming people in the US right now.
Today we can report there has also been a significant increase in public support for climate action by the president and Congress since our last survey in March 2021. Among registered voters, a record high 94% of liberal Democrats (+6 percentage points since March) and 80% (+2) of moderate/conservative Democrats say global warming should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.
A near-record high 45% (+10) of liberal/moderate Republicans and 17% (+5) of conservative Republicans also say global warming should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.
We also find that 90% of liberal Democrats (+2 points since March) and 76% o moderate/conservative Democrats (+3), say the Democratic Party should be doing more to address global warming.
Meanwhile, 49% of liberal/moderate Republicans (+8) and 21% of conservative Republicans (+4) say the Democratic Party should be doing more to address global warming.
Finally, we find a large increase in the percentage of liberal/moderate Republicans who say the Republican Party should be doing more to address global warming (61%; +21 percentage points since March). Additionally, 24% of conservative Republicans (+4) say the Republican Party should be doing more.
Meanwhile, 92% of liberal Democrats and 85% of moderate/conservative Democrats say the Republican Party should be doing more to address global warming.
Please stay tuned, as we will also release full reports on public climate beliefs and attitudes, policy support, and consumer activism in coming weeks.
Note: Sample size, n = 1,006. Margin of error +/- 3 percentage points. Field dates, September 10 – 20, 2021.