Environmental Polling Roundup – August 29, 2025
Headlines
Data for Progress – Voters continue to support nuclear energy across the political spectrum; while they have limited familiarity with it, voters widely support the expansion of geothermal energy after learning basic information [Article, Report, Crosstabs]
Pew – Americans see climate change as less of a threat than people in comparable nations do, as politically conservative Americans are far more dismissive of the problem than the political right of other countries [Website, Report, Topline]
Key Takeaways
The country has reached a stable, bipartisan consensus in favor of nuclear energy. Data for Progress finds that voters favor the expansion of nuclear energy in the U.S. by a roughly two-to-one margin, with support from majorities of both Republicans and (to a lesser extent) Democrats. These findings continue one of the clearest trends in recent U.S. public opinion about energy: an emerging, cross-partisan consensus in support of nuclear power.
Pew and Gallup have both found that Americans of all partisan affiliations have grown more favorable toward nuclear energy over the past few years. Overall, support for the expansion of nuclear energy surpassed the 50% threshold in public polling in the early 2020s and has continued to climb since. While Americans continue to have concerns around the safety of nuclear power plants, they are less polarized around nuclear energy than they are about other energy sources as Democrats increasingly accept nuclear energy as a means for decarbonization and Republicans increasingly align themselves behind Trump’s preferred forms of domestic energy production.
The American right stands alone in its dismissiveness toward climate change. In a 25-country survey about major global threats, Pew finds that Americans are considerably less concerned about climate change than residents of other large, high-income countries. This is a common finding in international surveys about climate change, and Pew’s analysis sheds further light on why this is.
In classifying respondents in each applicable country as ideologically “left,” “center,” or “right” based on their partisan affiliations, Pew finds that the ideological right in the U.S. is uniquely dismissive of climate change as only 20% of right-wing Americans rate the issue as a “major” threat. For comparison, those on the ideological right in other large, high-income countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. are around 2-3x as likely to call climate change a “major” threat.
The ideological left in the U.S., meanwhile, is about equally concerned about climate change as the ideological left in these comparable nations.
Good Data Points to Highlight
- [Energy Transition] Only 22% of voters say that the U.S. Department of Energy should prioritize fossil fuels most, while 42% say that the country should prioritize renewables like solar and wind the most and 27% say that the country should prioritize other technologies including advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower [Data for Progress]
- [Geothermal] 72% of voters support expanding geothermal energy after reading a brief description of it [Data for Progress]
Full Roundup
Data for Progress – Voters continue to support nuclear energy across the political spectrum; while they have limited familiarity with it, voters widely support the expansion of geothermal energy after learning basic information [Article, Report, Crosstabs]
Voters have limited familiarity with geothermal energy, but support it after a quick introduction. While only around one-third of voters (35%) say that they are even “somewhat” familiar with geothermal energy, seven in ten voters support expanding its development in the U.S. (72% support / 15% oppose) after reading the description below:
“Geothermal energy is extracted by drilling wells into hot underground rock formations. Water found within or piped into these rock formations turns into steam and that steam is used to spin turbines that produce electricity that can be used by homes and businesses.”
This initial support for geothermal energy also spans party lines, with three-quarters of Republicans (77% support / 13% unfavorable) and two-thirds of Democrats (67% support / 19% oppose) saying that the country should expand geothermal energy development based on this description.
Voters across party lines continue to support geothermal energy after a simulated debate on the topic. Data for Progress finds that this initial support holds up to some scrutiny, with voters continuing to support geothermal energy by a two-to-one margin (59% support / 28% oppose) after seeing the following statements in favor of the technology and against it:
“Supporters say geothermal energy is a reliable source of renewable energy that can provide power 24/7 and requires less land than other types of energy.
Opponents say geothermal energy is disruptive to local landscapes and habitats, can potentially trigger earthquakes, and can cause noise pollution.”
Following this simulated debate, majorities of Democrats (55% support / 34% oppose) and Republicans (64% support / 24% oppose) continue to say that the U.S. should expand geothermal energy.
Nuclear energy remains popular across the political spectrum. Voters also support the expansion of nuclear energy in the U.S. by a roughly two-to-one margin (58% support / 31% oppose), as the idea earns backing from a slight majority of Democrats (52% support / 39% oppose) and two-thirds of Republicans (68% support / 23% oppose).
These findings are consistent with other public polling, including from Pew and Gallup, which have found an emerging bipartisan consensus in favor of nuclear energy in recent years.
Voters would much rather see the federal government focus on developing renewables than fossil fuels. In another striking example of how much the Trump administration’s energy policies have strayed from the public will, only 22% of voters believe that the Department of Energy should prioritize the research and development of fossil fuels over other types of energy.
When provided with the three options below of technologies to prioritize, a plurality (42%) say that the Department of Energy should focus most on renewables:
- Renewable energy sources, like solar, wind, and battery storage – 42%
- Advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower energy – 27%
- Fossil fuel energy resources, like coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas – 22%
Prioritizing renewables is the clear top choice of Democrats (58%) and independents (45%), while Republicans have more mixed opinions about whether to prioritize fossil fuels (36%), emerging technologies like advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower (32%), or renewables like solar and wind with battery storage (26%).
Pew – Americans see climate change as less of a threat than people in comparable nations do, as politically conservative Americans are far more dismissive of the problem than the political right of other countries [Website, Report, Topline]
Americans are less likely to view climate change as a “major” threat than people in other high-income countries. Around half of Americans (51%) rate climate change as a “major” threat, placing the country toward the bottom of Pew’s 25-nation sample in terms of climate concern.
Americans are around 10 points less likely than Canadians (60%) or Australians (63%) to view climate change as a “major” threat, and 15+ points less likely than residents of large European economies including France (78%), Germany (67%), Italy (71%), and the United Kingdom (66%).
In a more positive sign, concern about climate change has increased in most of the countries surveyed by Pew since they began this study in 2013. This includes the U.S., where the percentage rating climate change as a “major” threat now (51%) has grown by 11 points since 2013 (40%).
While the American left is roughly in line with the left in comparable nations on climate change, the American right is uniquely dismissive of the problem. In applicable countries, Pew classified respondents as “right,” “center,” or “left” based on their political affiliations.
They find that those on the ideological left in the United States are similarly likely to rate climate change as a “major” threat (84%) as those on the ideological left in other large, high-income nations such as Australia (84%), Canada (81%), France (91%), Germany (83%), Italy (80%), and the United Kingdom (76%).
The political center in the U.S. is also nearly as likely to rate climate change as a “major” threat (58%) as the political center in Canada (63%) or Australia (60%), though political centrists in large European economies such as France (80%), Germany (67%), Italy (75%), and the United Kingdom (68%) are relatively more attuned to the issue.
What really sets the United States apart from comparable nations is how few Americans on the ideological right see climate change as a major problem. Just 20% of right-wing Americans rate the issue as a “major” threat, which is by far the lowest figure for any of the political groups that Pew classified across 15 countries.
For comparison, around two in five right-wing Canadians (41%) and Australians (37%) call climate change a “major” threat. And looking at the largest European economies, around half of right-wing residents of Germany (49%) and the United Kingdom (54%) and majorities of the ideological right in France (68%) and Italy (65%) accept that climate change poses a “major” threat.
The U.S. is therefore much more politically polarized around climate change than any other country in Pew’s sample, with the 64-point difference between the U.S. left (84%) and right (20%) in labeling climate change a “major” threat far surpassing the left-right divide in comparable nations such as Australia (47 points), Canada (40 points), Germany (34 points), France (23 points), the United Kingdom (22 points), and Italy (15 points).
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