Environmental Polling Roundup – August 22, 2025
Headlines
Data for Progress – Voters widely agree with the endangerment finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health, and only 9% believe that greenhouse gases should not be regulated [Article, Crosstabs]
Data for Progress – Voters continue to support renewable energy projects in their own communities [Article, Crosstabs]
ecoAmerica – Most Americans say that their household has experienced negative health effects from extreme heat, and they’re aware of few resources in their community to help mitigate the impacts [Website, Report, Crosstabs]
Key Takeaways
There is virtually no constituency for repealing greenhouse gas regulations. As the Trump administration moves forward on its threats to overturn the endangerment finding and end regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, Data for Progress finds that few voters–including only small fractions of Republicans–agree with these actions. Only 15% of voters (including just 24% of Republicans) deny that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to public health, and just 9% of voters (including only 15% of Republicans) believe that greenhouse gas emissions should not be regulated.
Voters remain far more supportive of local renewable energy development than the conventional wisdom would suggest. While local pushback to clean energy projects is a real threat to renewable energy development, polls consistently show that opponents of clean energy projects make up a (particularly vocal) minority and are not representative of the public will.
Rather, Americans consistently say that they would support solar and wind projects in their own communities. A new survey by Data for Progress further finds that the majority of voters, including most Republicans, agree that they would be “proud” of renewable energy development in their own community. Additionally, more than half of voters believe that their community is “well-suited” to renewable energy development.
Good Data Points to Highlight
- [Greenhouse Gases] 86% of voters “strongly” or “somewhat” believe that greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated [Data for Progress]
- [Greenhouse Gases] 79% of voters “strongly” or “somewhat” believe that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to public health [Data for Progress]
- [Clean Energy Siting] 69% of voters say that they would be proud of renewable energy development in their own community [Data for Progress]
- [Clean Energy Siting] 53% of voters say that their community is well-suited to renewable energy development [Data for Progress]
Full Roundup
Data for Progress – Voters widely agree with the endangerment finding that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health, and only 9% believe that greenhouse gases should not be regulated [Article, Crosstabs]
Voters overwhelmingly recognize that greenhouse gases threaten public health and agree that they should be regulated. As the Trump administration moves forward on its threat to overturn the endangerment finding and abdicate the federal government’s responsibility to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, commanding majorities of voters disagree with this dangerous path.
More than four in five voters (86%) believe that “greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrogen oxides” should be regulated. This includes 42% who strongly believe that these emissions should be regulated. Meanwhile, only around one in ten (9%) agree with the administration by saying that greenhouse gas emissions should not be regulated.
Voters are similarly unified in their belief that greenhouse gases are a public health threat: around four in five (79%) recognize that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health, including 38% who feel strongly. Meanwhile, only 15% believe that greenhouse gases do not represent a threat to public health.
Even Republican voters are alienated by the administration’s plan to overturn the endangerment finding. The administration’s move to end greenhouse gas regulations directly conflicts with the attitudes of Trump’s own base: even among Republicans, around two-thirds (68%) at least “somewhat” believe that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to public health and more than three-quarters (79%) at least “somewhat” believe that these emissions should be regulated.
Meanwhile, only 24% of Republicans agree with the administration’s position that greenhouse gas emissions are not a threat to public health and just 15% of Republicans say that these emissions should not be regulated.
Data for Progress – Voters continue to support renewable energy projects in their own communities [Article, Crosstabs]
Voters, including many Republicans, support renewable energy development in their communities. Nearly seven in ten voters (69% agree / 17% disagree) agree that they would be “proud” of renewable energy development in their community, including the majority of Republicans (60%).
Slightly more than half (53% agree / 23% disagree) also agree that their community is “well-suited” to renewable energy development, including around half of Republicans (50% agree / 30% disagree).
Voters believe that local clean energy projects would have more of a positive than negative impact on local jobs, electricity reliability, home values, and quality of life. Meanwhile, voters are mixed on the potential impacts of local clean energy development on their utility bills.
Below are voters’ expectations about how various things in their area would change or not if their community pursued a clean energy project:
- Job opportunities – 46% increase / 31% stay the same / 10% decrease
- Home values in my community – 43% increase / 35% stay the same / 7% decrease
- The quality of life in my community – 38% increase / 42% stay the same / 8% decrease
- My community’s ability to recover quickly from extreme weather – 37% increase / 35% stay the same / 11% decrease
- My utility bills – 33% increase / 24% stay the same / 31% decrease
- The quality of nearby natural resources – 30% increase / 39% stay the same / 13% decrease
- Power outages – 17% increase / 36% stay the same / 32% decrease
A plurality of voters say that renewable energy projects should be easier to build in their communities, while far fewer want fossil fuel projects to be made easier. More than two in five (44% easier / 14% harder) say that they wish it was easier for utility scale renewable energy, like community solar or wind farms, to be approved in their community. Meanwhile, only one-quarter (25% easier / 27% harder) say that they wish it was easier for fossil fuel projects, like oil drilling or new pipelines, to be approved in their area.
Notably, considering the Trump administration’s push to expedite fossil fuel projects while blocking renewables, Republicans feel about equally about renewable energy projects in their areas (33% should be made easier / 20% should be made harder) as they do about fossil fuel projects (36% should be made easier / 15% should be made harder).
Only around half of voters say that they know what energy sources provide their electricity. Close to half (45%) acknowledge that they aren’t sure what type of energy source provides power to their community when provided with a list of options. From that list, voters are most likely to believe that their energy comes from oil or natural gas power plants (30%), hydroelectric power plants (17%), solar power (12%), or nuclear plants (9%).
ecoAmerica – Most Americans say that their household has experienced negative health effects from extreme heat, and they’re aware of few resources in their community to help mitigate the impacts [Website, Report, Crosstabs]
The large majority of Americans say that they or someone in their household has experienced negative health impacts from extreme heat. Around two-thirds (68%) report that they or someone in their household has “experienced health or medical problems that were caused or made worse by heat waves and extreme heat.”
And while Republicans tend to minimize the impacts of extreme weather in polls about the topic, ecoAmerica finds that Democrats (74%) and Republicans (69%) are about equally likely to say that their household has faced health problems from extreme heat.
Americans widely recognize that specific groups, including seniors, are at greater risk from heat-related health problems. When asked to select groups that face the greatest risk of health problems from rising temperatures and extreme heat, Americans are most likely to think of outdoor workers, seniors, and those with underlying health conditions:
- Outdoor workers – 70%
- People with chronic health conditions – 69%
- Older adults – 68%
- People without housing – 61%
- Pregnant women – 50%
- Children and youth – 49%
- People with disabilities – 49%
- People with low incomes – 39%
- People of color and underserved communities – 29%
Americans are not aware of many resources in their communities to help provide relief from extreme heat. Despite the ubiquity of experiences with extreme heat, many Americans are unaware of resources in their community to help people withstand its impacts. Only around half (53%) are aware of cooling centers in their area, while less than half know about emergency warning systems, help with electricity bills during heat waves, or other important community resources for extreme heat.
Below are the percentages who say that they’re aware of each resource being available in their local area:
- Cooling centers – 53%
- Emergency alerts or early warning systems – 46%
- Help with paying electricity bills or avoiding shut-offs during heat waves – 40%
- Health services for heat-related illness – 40%
- Outreach programs to check on vulnerable residents – 36%
- Help to prepare your home for extreme heat – 28%
- Transportation to cooling centers – 20%
Related Resources
Environmental Polling Roundup – August 6th, 2021
This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines from this week’s public polls, good data points to highlight, and a full roundup including key takeaways from each poll.
Environmental Polling Roundup – August 23rd, 2021
This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines from this week’s public polls, good data points to highlight, and a full roundup including key takeaways from each poll.
Environmental Polling Roundup – August 27th, 2021
This post includes a roundup of climate + environment headlines from this week’s public polls, good data points to highlight, and a full roundup including key takeaways from each poll.