Environmental Polling Roundup – August 1, 2025
Headlines
Navigator – Seven in ten voters say that climate change is a serious problem for the country today, but Democrats and Republicans are divided over what’s causing it [Release, Deck, Topline]
The Economist + YouGov – Americans would prefer to expand rather than reduce regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, and continue to oppose cuts to the EPA [Topline, Crosstabs]
Environmental Voter Project – Americans say that they think and care about climate change more than other major issues such as abortion and immigration, but are relatively less likely to view it as a political issue as they blame corporations more than the government [Release, Report, Topline, Crosstabs]
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines oppose the sell-off of public lands and cuts to the agencies that manage them [Release, Crosstabs]
Key Takeaways
There is virtually no existing public appetite for eliminating greenhouse gas regulations. The recent push by Trump’s EPA to repeal the “endangerment finding” that underpins greenhouse gas regulations stands as a blatant example of the administration siding with corporations over the public’s interests, and The Economist and YouGov find that Americans would clearly prefer for the administration to take the opposite approach and increase restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions rather than scale them back. Only 9% of Americans, including just 18% of Republicans, say that restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions should be eliminated.
Voters across the political spectrum remain united in support of public lands. After Republicans scrapped a provision to sell off public lands in the reconciliation bill amid bipartisan pushback, Data for Progress finds that voters across party lines continue to reject efforts to sell off public lands and are ready to punish lawmakers who undermine public lands protections.
Their poll shows that Democrats, independent voters, and Republicans all widely oppose proposals to sell off public lands and to cut funding for the agencies that manage them. Additionally, majorities of voters–including most Republicans–say that they’re unlikely to vote for lawmakers who want to sell off public lands to pay for tax cuts or who support cutting funding for the National Park Service or U.S. Forest Service.
Good Data Points to Highlight
- [Climate Change] 70% of voters say that climate change is a “very” or “somewhat” serious problem for Americans today [Navigator]
- [Climate Change] 58% of Americans say that they think about climate change at least once a week [Environmental Voter Project]
- [Greenhouse Gas Regulations] Only 24% of Americans say that U.S. restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced or eliminated, compared to 37% who want them to be expanded and 21% who want them to be kept the same [The Economist + YouGov]
- [EPA] Only 23% of Americans say that the EPA should be reduced or eliminated, compared to 39% who say that the agency should be expanded and 27% who say that it should be kept the same [The Economist + YouGov]
- [Public Lands] 73% of voters oppose budget cuts to the National Park Service and other agencies that manage public lands [Data for Progress]
- [Public Lands] 72% of voters oppose the sale of public lands to incentivize housing development and pay for legislation [Data for Progress]
Full Roundup
Navigator – Seven in ten voters say that climate change is a serious problem for the country today, but Democrats and Republicans are divided over what’s causing it [Release, Deck, Topline]
Americans widely agree that climate change is a serious problem for the country right now. Seven in ten (70%) say that climate change is at least a “somewhat” serious problem for Americans today, including two in five (43%) who call it a “very” serious problem.
Virtually all Democrats (92%) and nearly three-quarters of independents (73%) rate climate change as a serious problem for the country, as do around half of Republicans (46%).
Democrats and Republicans are divided over the cause of climate change, though few voters of any political persuasion deny that it’s happening. Close to half of voters (46%) recognize that the climate is changing “mostly as a result of human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels,” while around one-third (34%) believe that the climate is changing “mostly as a result of natural patterns in the environment” (34%).
Seven in ten Democrats (71%) and a plurality of independents (44% human activity / 33% natural patterns) understand that human activity is driving climate change. Republicans have much different beliefs about the topic than the rest of the country, however, with only 22% of Republicans attributing climate change primarily to human activities while 52% of Republicans believe that it is caused more by natural patterns.
This data underscores how climate denialism today comes mostly in the form of minimizing humans’ role in it rather than denying the phenomenon altogether. Navigator finds that just 9% of voters, including only 16% of Republicans, say that the climate is “not really changing at all.”
The majority of voters, including most Republicans, are concerned about extreme weather. Nearly three-quarters of voters (73%) say that they are at least “somewhat” concerned about extreme weather, including around two in five (39%) who are “very” concerned about it.
Large majorities of Democrats (90%) and independents (78%) say that they are concerned about extreme weather, compared to just over half of Republicans (54%). This follows a long-standing trend in environmental polling, as Republicans have become more inclined to downplay extreme weather as the topic has become closely associated with climate change.
Around half of voters report unusual summer weather in their area this year, with hotter temperatures by far the most common example. Most voters (56%) believe that this summer’s weather globally has been different from years past, while about half (49%) say that this summer’s weather in their community has been different from past summers.
Democrats (62%) are 25 points more likely to report unusual summer weather in their area than Republicans (37%), further demonstrating how voters’ stated beliefs about extreme weather have taken on a partisan dimension. In other research by Pew, these partisan differences in self-reported weather experiences hold true even when comparing Democrats and Republicans in the same areas of the country.
Among voters in Navigator’s poll who report unusual summer weather in their area, hotter temperatures (72%) are by far the most commonly cited difference. Around two in five voters (42%) who say that their area has experienced unusual weather also report more floods.
Federal agencies that deal with weather disasters are popular across the political spectrum. Voters have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about the federal agencies that help protect Americans from extreme weather, including the National Weather Service (77% favorable / 10% unfavorable), FEMA (61% favorable / 22% unfavorable), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (50% favorable / 9% unfavorable).
And even as these agencies have come under attack from the Trump administration, they all remain well above water among Republican voters:
- NWS – 75% favorable / 13% unfavorable among Republicans
- FEMA – 55% favorable / 30% unfavorable among Republicans
- NOAA – 46% favorable / 11% unfavorable among Republicans
The Economist + YouGov – Americans would prefer to expand rather than reduce regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, and continue to oppose cuts to the EPA [Topline, Crosstabs]
Americans are nearly three times as likely to say that the country is doing too little about climate change than to say that it’s doing too much. Only around one in six Americans (17%) say that the country is currently doing too much to address climate change, compared to half (50%) who say that the country isn’t doing enough to address it. An additional one in five (20%) believe that the country is currently doing the right amount.
The overwhelming majority of Democrats (83%) agree that the country is doing too little to address the problem, and independents are 36 points more likely to say that the U.S. is doing too little on climate change (52%) than to say that the country is doing too much (16%). Even among Republicans, only around one-third (32%) believe that the country is currently doing too much to address the issue.
There is virtually no public appetite for eliminating greenhouse gas regulations, as Americans would prefer to expand these regulations rather than reduce them. Amid the recent push by Trump’s EPA to repeal the “endangerment finding” that underpins greenhouse gas regulations, Americans clearly oppose such a dangerous rollback. In fact, The Economist and YouGov find that Americans would prefer for the country to expand government restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions (37%) than reduce (15%) or eliminate (9%) them. An additional one in five (21%) say that greenhouse gas restrictions should be kept the same as they are now.
Even among Republicans, less than half (47%) want greenhouse gas restrictions to be reduced or eliminated.
Americans also prefer to expand rather than cut the EPA, NOAA, FEMA, and NPS. The Economist and YouGov have consistently found that Americans would prefer to expand than cut federal agencies that deal with the climate and environment, and that trend continues in their latest survey as more Americans say that each of the following agencies should be expanded than reduced or eliminated:
- FEMA – 41% expanded / 17% reduced or eliminated
- EPA – 39% expanded / 23% reduced or eliminated
- National Park Service – 35% expanded / 10% reduced or eliminated
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association – 32% expanded / 15% reduced or eliminated
Environmental Voter Project – Americans say that they think and care about climate change more than other major issues such as abortion and immigration, but are relatively less likely to view it as a political issue as they blame corporations more than the government [Release, Report, Topline, Crosstabs]
Most Americans say that they think about climate change on a weekly basis. Nearly three in five Americans (58%) say that they think about addressing climate change at least once a week, including 18% who say that they think about the topic every day.
The Environmental Voter Project also asked about four other issue areas throughout their survey, providing useful context as to how climate change stacks up against other major issues. Of the five issues that they asked about, only education ranked as more top-of-mind for Americans than climate change:
- Improving the quality of education – 61% think about at least once a week
- Addressing climate change – 58%
- Reforming immigration – 55%
- Reducing gun violence – 50%
- Furthering abortion access or restrictions – 39%
Americans say that climate change is more personally important to them than hot-button political issues such as abortion and immigration. When asked to rate the personal importance of each issue, around half of Americans (49%) say that climate change is “extremely” or “very” important to them. This placed it in the middle of the five issues in the survey, but notably higher than immigration and abortion–two issues that have dominated political advertising and discourse in recent elections:
- Improving the quality of education – 64% “extremely” or “very” important
- Reducing gun violence – 56%
- Addressing climate change – 49%
- Reforming immigration – 42%
- Furthering abortion access or restrictions – 38%
Compared to other major issues, Americans are less likely to blame the government for climate change and more likely to blame corporations. When asked who or what they blame most for issues related to each topic, Americans are relatively less likely to associate climate change with state and federal policies. Meanwhile, Americans are far more likely to blame corporations and financial interests for climate change than for any of the other four issues:
- Improving the quality of education – 60% state and federal policies / 9% corporations and financial interests / 20% individuals
- Reducing gun violence – 35% state and federal policies / 7% corporations and financial interests / 48% individuals
- Addressing climate change – 29% state and federal policies / 34% corporations and financial interests / 22% individuals
- Reforming immigration – 64% state and federal policies / 9% corporations and financial interests / 13% individuals
- Furthering abortion access or restrictions – 58% state and federal policies / 8% corporations and financial interests / 24% individuals
This data reinforces a consistent theme throughout the Environmental Voter Project’s survey, which finds that Americans view climate change as less of a political problem than the other four issues included in the poll. Pulling from their report on the survey results: “The data relating to climate change is particularly revealing in that it suggests Americans could be more concerned about climate change than is typically measured in political polls, and that climate’s lower political salience might be due to Americans not viewing climate change as a political issue, but rather as a series of personal and corporate failings that require individual-level solutions.”
Data for Progress – Voters across party lines oppose the sell-off of public lands and cuts to the agencies that manage them [Release, Crosstabs]
Voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly oppose the sell-off of public lands. When informed that some lawmakers “have proposed selling public lands to incentivize housing development and pay for legislation,” voters oppose the idea by an overwhelming 50-point margin (22% support / 72% oppose).
This includes a 56-point margin of opposition among Democrats (19% support / 75% oppose), a 56-point margin of opposition among independents (19% support / 75% oppose), and a 42-point margin of opposition among Republicans (26% support / 68% oppose).
Opposition to the idea is also intense, with 45% of voters “strongly” opposed to the sell-off of public lands.
Voters also widely oppose budget cuts to the National Park Service and other agencies that manage public lands. When informed that lawmakers have cut the budgets of federal agencies that manage public lands, including the National Park Service, voters oppose these cuts by a 51-point margin (22% support / 73% oppose) and nearly half (47%) “strongly” oppose these budget cuts.
The hostility to these funding cuts spans partisan lines, as Democrats (9% support / 86% oppose), independents (19% support / 76% oppose), and Republicans (34% support / 59% oppose) all oppose them by wide margins.
Policies that threaten public lands are politically toxic, as majorities say that they’re unlikely to vote for candidates who want to sell off public lands, open them to mining or logging, or decrease their funding. While majorities of voters say that they are likely to vote for legislators who take positive stances on public lands issues, including supporting the conservation of wilderness areas (71% likely) and creating new public lands (58%), most voters say that they would be unlikely to vote for candidates who support any of the following measures:
- Decreasing funding to the U.S. Forest Service – 66% are unlikely to vote for a legislator who supports this
- Decreasing funding to the National Park Service – 66% unlikely
- Selling public lands to fund tax cuts – 64% unlikely
- Opening public lands for mining – 59%
- Opening public lands for logging – 57%
Policies that weaken public lands protections are potential dealbreakers for voters on both sides of the political aisle. Majorities of Republicans say that they are unlikely to vote for legislators who want to decrease funding to the National Park Service (57% unlikely), decrease funding to the U.S. Forest Service (55%), or sell public lands to fund tax cuts (55%). Significant numbers of Republicans also say that they are unlikely to vote for legislators who support opening public lands for logging (47%) or mining (43%).
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