Environmental Polling Roundup – April 7, 2023
HEADLINES
Gallup – Roughly one in three Americans say they’ve experienced extreme weather in the last two years, including nearly half of the South; however, few think of extreme temperatures when asked to provide examples of “extreme weather” events (Article)
Data for Progress – Voters are widely concerned about extreme heat – particularly in how it impacts the elderly – and support a wide range of policies to mitigate it (Memo, Crosstabs)
Yale + George Mason – “Global Warming’s Six Americas” analysis finds that young Americans, Hispanics, and women of color are especially likely to be convinced and concerned about climate change (Article)
Navigator – Voters are divided on ESG, as attitudes about it are strongly linked to partisanship (Deck, Topline)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Don’t assume that the public knows what you mean by “extreme weather.” Gallup finds that about one-third of Americans say they’ve been impacted by extreme weather events in the last two years, though very few mention extreme heat when prompted in an open-ended question to specify what type(s) of extreme weather they’ve experienced. We know from other polling (and from actual weather data) that first-hand experience with extreme heat is quite common, so the Gallup data suggests that people might not readily think of extreme heat as an example of “extreme weather.” When communicating to general audiences about extreme weather and its links to climate change, therefore, it may be helpful to explicitly mention extreme heat as an example. This is also important because the public more intuitively understands that hot weather is connected to climate change than cold weather.
- ESG has been swallowed up by the culture war. New polling from Navigator confirms that ESG is a politically polarizing label, joining other acronyms like CRT and DEI as terms that elicit opposing reactions from Democrats and Republicans. Another recent polling project about ESG from Climate Power and Data for Progress yielded similar results, and recommended that advocates continue to talk about the idea behind environmentally responsible investing but avoid the “ESG” label in favor of alternatives like “responsible investing” and the “freedom to invest.”
- Americans of color continue to show the greatest concern about climate change. A new analysis of national survey data from Yale and George Mason finds that people of color, and Hispanic Americans in particular, are especially likely to acknowledge and worry about human-caused climate change. While sections of the media continue to portray climate change as a preoccupation of white liberals, the actual data shows that people of color continue to be driving the country toward greater recognition and urgency around climate change.
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Extreme Weather + Climate Change] Americans who say that winter in their area this season was warmer than usual (42% of Americans) are more likely to say that warmer winter temperatures are due to climate change (62%) than natural variation (36%) [Gallup]
- [Green Spaces + Extreme Heat] 87% of voters support their state or municipality investing in public urban green spaces, including parks and open areas with trees and other natural features, to reduce the urban heat island effect in cities [Data for Progress]
- [Energy Efficiency] 85% of voters support their state or municipality providing financial incentives for installing energy-efficient air conditioning in homes [Data for Progress]
- [Weatherization] 84% of voters support their state or municipality investing in programs to weatherize homes to make them more energy efficient and climate resilient [Data for Progress]
- [Heating and Cooling Relief Act] 78% of voters support the Heating and Cooling Relief Act to increase annual funding for low-income household energy assistance and expand eligibility to ensure that no household pays more than 3 percent of its annual income on energy costs [Data for Progress]
- [Extreme Heat Mitigation] 78% of voters support a federal law to prevent utility shut-offs during extreme heat events [Data for Progress]
- [Extreme Heat Mitigation] 77% of voters support requiring landlords to provide renters with air conditioning or indoor cooling in areas that experience extreme heat events [Data for Progress]
- [Issue Priority] More Americans say that climate/environment is the number one “most important issue” for them than any other issue besides inflation/prices, health care, and the economy/jobs [The Economist + YouGov]
FULL ROUNDUP
Gallup – Roughly one in three Americans say they’ve experienced extreme weather in the last two years, including nearly half of the South; however, few think of extreme temperatures when asked to provide examples of “extreme weather” events (Article)
Gallup finds that 33% of Americans say that they’ve been “affected by an extreme weather event” where they live in the last two years, though self-reported experiences with extreme weather vary widely by region.
Residents of the South (45%) are by far the most likely to say that they’ve been impacted by extreme weather, followed by residents of the East (30%) and West (30%). Midwest residents (21%) are the least likely to self-report personal experience with extreme weather.
These findings are generally consistent with a previous Gallup survey conducted a year ago. In that poll, 33% of Americans also self-reported experience with extreme weather and residents of the South were also the most likely to say that they’d been impacted.
The new poll also indicates that people have varying definitions of what qualifies as “extreme weather.” In an open-ended question asking people who had experienced extreme weather to describe the specific type of extreme weather event(s) they’d experienced, the most commonly cited events were hurricanes (8%), extreme cold (7%), snow or ice storms (6%), extreme heat (4%), and floods (4%).
The fact that just 4% cite personal experience with extreme heat in the Gallup poll is somewhat surprising, and doesn’t fit with the data we have on the actual weather. Per the NOAA, the summers of 2021 and 2022 rank among the three hottest on record in the United States.
One likely explanation for the low mentions of extreme heat in the Gallup poll is that the poll specifically asked people to volunteer examples of “extreme weather” they’d experienced, and people may not associate extreme heat or heat waves with “extreme weather” in the same way that they associate storms and hurricanes.
Surveys that ask about experience with extreme heat more directly have found far higher self-reported experience with it. A poll conducted by NPR, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard University last year, for example, found that half of Americans (51%) said they’d been personally affected by “extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves.” Far fewer (20%) said they’d been personally impacted by “hurricanes or severe tropical storms,” which was the most commonly volunteered example of “extreme weather” that people said they’d experienced in the Gallup poll.
There may also be some recency bias at play in the new Gallup poll: since the poll was fielded in March, respondents may have been more primed to think of examples of extreme winter weather than extreme summer weather like heat waves.
Clarifying the links between climate change and extreme heat, and between climate change and other types of extreme weather, is important for making people understand climate change as an urgent, here-and-now issue.
Gallup polling last year found that Americans who have experienced extreme weather are more likely to say that global warming is happening now and are more concerned about global warming than those who haven’t experienced extreme weather, even after controlling for partisanship.
The link between unseasonably hot weather and global warming is also more intuitive than the link between unseasonably cold weather and global warming. Pulling from the new Gallup article, with emphasis added in bold:
“People living in different parts of the U.S. have endured different weather this winter — majorities in the East (77%) and Midwest (52%) say local temperatures were warmer than usual, while a majority of Western residents say temperatures were colder than usual (62%).
A follow-up question asks respondents whether they think the hotter or colder temperatures are due to climate change or reflect normal year-to-year variation in temperatures. Those who say temperatures were colder than usual are about equally likely to attribute those temperatures to climate change as to normal variation, which has been the case in recent readings. In contrast, those who say temperatures were warmer than usual are much more inclined to see climate change (62%) rather than natural variation (36%) as the cause, as has been the case since 2016.”
Data for Progress – Voters are widely concerned about extreme heat – particularly in how it impacts the elderly – and support a wide range of policies to mitigate it (Memo, Crosstabs)
Also on the topic of extreme heat, Data for Progress finds that the majority of voters are concerned about the ways that extreme heat impacts people’s health – with particularly acute concerns over the impacts of extreme heat on the elderly.
Here are the percentages of voters who say that they’re at least “somewhat” concerned about various health impacts of extreme heat on themselves and others:
- The health of elderly Americans – 84% concerned (including 49% who are “very” concerned)
- The health of low-income Americans – 79% (including 39% “very” concerned)
- The health of homeless Americans – 77% (including 41% “very” concerned)
- The health of young Americans – 67% (including 33% “very” concerned)
- The health of people in your community – 67% (including 28% “very” concerned)
- Your physical health – 64% (including 34% “very” concerned)
- Your mental health – 55% (including 30% “very” concerned)
Accordingly, voters widely support a range of large-scale solutions to help mitigate the impacts of extreme heat – including action at the federal level to prevent utility shut-offs during heat waves and new requirements for governments and landlords to provide air conditioning or cooling:
- 78% support a federal law to prevent utility shut-offs during extreme heat events (including 51% who “strongly” support the idea)
- 78% support the Heating and Cooling Relief Act to increase annual funding for low income household energy assistance and ensure that no household pays more than 3 percent of its annual income on energy costs (43% “strongly”)
- 78% support requiring air conditioning in state- and federally-owned buildings, such as housing and prisons (41% “strongly”)
- 77% support requiring landlords to provide renters with air conditioning or indoor cooling in areas that experience extreme heat events (46% “strongly”)
- 77% support programs that specifically invest in cooling infrastructure for marginalized communities after learning that members of marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat (35% “strongly”)
Additionally, voters overwhelmingly support heat-mitigating policies at the state and municipal levels – especially cooling centers, wellness checkups for the elderly and other vulnerable populations, and public urban green spaces:
- 89% support a ‘311’ call system for first responders to conduct wellness checkups for elderly people and other vulnerable populations during periods of extreme heat (including 61% who “strongly” support the idea)
- 89% support their state/municipality creating a comprehensive list of available cooling centers in their area (56% “strongly”)
- 87% support investments in public urban green spaces, including parks and open areas, to reduce the heat island effect in cities (54% “strongly”)
- 87% support investments in cooling centers during extreme heat waves (52% “strongly”)
- 86% support free disaster preparedness training (52% “strongly”)
- 85% support creating a municipality- or state-wide text and email emergency notification system for extreme heat (53% “strongly”)
- 85% support financial incentives for installing energy-efficient air conditioning in homes (49% “strongly”)
- 84% support programs to weatherize homes and make them more energy efficient and climate resilient (48% “strongly”)
- 81% support their state/municipality creating a public resource mapping out areas which are vulnerable to extreme heat (44% “strongly”)
- 79% support subsidies for financially struggling families to purchase cooling devices (42% “strongly”)
- 75% support investments in cooling infrastructure, like cool pavements, cool roofs, misting systems, and fans in public areas (36% “strongly”)
Yale + George Mason – “Global Warming’s Six Americas” analysis finds that young Americans, Hispanics, and women of color are especially likely to be convinced and worried about climate change (Article)
The “Global Warming’s Six Americas” framework is a tool for understanding how different segments of the population feel about climate change, as this article explains:
“The Global Warming’s Six Americas framework is an audience segmentation approach to understanding the spectrum of people’s responses to global warming. The Alarmed and Concerned are the segments that are most likely to think that global warming is happening and are the most worried about it, while the Doubtful and Dismissive have the lowest belief that global warming is happening and are the least worried about it.”
Applying this framework to different demographic groups from the last six waves of their national “Climate Change in the American Mind” surveys, Yale and George Mason find that younger generations, Hispanic Americans, and women of color are especially likely to fit into the Alarmed and Concerned segments of people who are most convinced and worried about global warming.
Excerpting from the article, with emphasis added in bold:
“Gen Z and Millennials (60%) are more likely to be either Alarmed or Concerned about global warming than Gen X (53%), or Baby Boomers and older generations (53%). Gen Z and Millennials (16%) are also less likely to be either Doubtful or Dismissive than Gen X (21%), or Baby Boomers and older generations (25%).
…
Majorities of Hispanic/Latino (64%) and Black adults (61%) in the U.S. are either Alarmed or Concerned about global warming, and they are more likely to be Alarmed or Concerned than are White adults (50%). Additionally, Hispanic/Latino (35%) and Black adults (29%) are more likely than White adults (24%) to be Alarmed, and Hispanic/Latino adults are the most likely to be Alarmed out of these three groups. White adults are nearly three times more likely to be Doubtful or Dismissive (26%) than are Black adults (9%), and twice as likely as Hispanic/Latino adults (13%). While Black adults are less likely to be Dismissive (3%) than the other groups, they are also more likely to be Disengaged (13%).
…
Combining age, race/ethnicity, and gender in the analysis reveals that people of color, particularly women of color, are the most Alarmed about global warming. This includes Gen Z and Millennial women of color (39% are Alarmed), Gen X women of color (37%), Gen X men of color (32%), and older generations of women of color (32%)
…
These data highlight the importance of including diverse groups in climate policy and decision-making. These results suggest that people of color, women, and younger generations in general, and younger women of color in particular, represent key audiences to support and further engage in climate discussions and activism.”
Navigator – Voters are divided on ESG, as attitudes about it are strongly linked to partisanship (Deck, Topline)
The latest Navigator survey focuses on the political debate over “wokeness” and finds that ESG, much like DEI and CRT, has become a highly politicized concept with Democratic and Republican partisans tending to take opposing stances on it.
Voters overall have mixed-to-positive reactions (35% favorable / 25% unfavorable) when asked to rate their attitudes of “Environmental, social, and corporate governance, also known as ESG.” An additional two in five voters (40%) don’t know enough about ESG to give an opinion.
While Democrats who are familiar with ESG have overwhelmingly positive impressions of it (50% favorable / 11% unfavorable. +39 net), Republicans rate ESG more negatively than positively by a nearly two-to-one margin (22% favorable / 40% unfavorable, -18 net).
For context, ESG is a slightly more polarizing concept than DEI (47% favorable / 24% unfavorable overall, including a net +56 favorability rating among Democrats and a net -12 rating from Republicans) but not nearly as politically divisive as critical race theory (30% favorable / 38% unfavorable overall, including a net +31 rating among Democrats and a net -51 rating among Republicans).
Other recent polling from Climate Power and Data for Progress similarly found mixed reactions to ESG and their polling memo recommended separating the ideas behind ESG from the “ESG” label. As that poll showed, voters tend to agree that financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors, such as climate risks or the riskiness of investing in fossil fuels, when making investment decisions.
The Climate Power/Data for Progress poll additionally found that advocates of environmentally responsible investing would be better off describing the concept with the terms “responsible investing” and the “freedom to invest” in responsible ways, rather than labeling it as “ESG.”
Related Resources
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