Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Report Summary

Highlights:

• A large majority of Americans (87%, down 5 percentage points since Fall 2012) say the president and the Congress should make developing sources of clean energy a “very high” (26%), “high” (32%), or medium priority (28%). Few say it should be a low priority (12%).
• Most Americans (70%, down 7 points since Fall 2012) say global warming should be a “very high” (16%), “high” (26%), or “medium priority” (29%) for the president and Congress. Three in ten (28%) say it should be a low priority.

Majorities of Americans support:

• Providing tax rebates for people who purchase energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (71%);
• Funding more research into renewable energy sources (70%);
• Regulating CO2 as a pollutant (68%);
• Requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon tax and using the money to pay down the national debt (61%);
• Eliminating all subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry (59%);
• Expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast (58%);
• Requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20% of their electricity from renewable energy sources, even if it costs the average household an extra $100 a year (55%).