Environmental Polling Roundup – December 13, 2024
Headlines
Pew – Americans are split on whether efforts to address climate change help or hurt the economy; Democrats and Republicans continue to have different priorities for climate policy, with Democrats emphasizing environmental protection and Republicans prioritizing consumer costs [Article, Full Report, Topline]
Data for Progress – Nearly half of voters say that they’re interested in rooftop solar where they live; costs are both the primary incentive and biggest barrier, as Americans are eager to lower their electricity bills but are concerned about installation costs [Release, Crosstabs]
Yale + GMU – Americans who experience “psychological distress” about climate change are more likely to take part in collective action [Release, Open Access Article]
Key Takeaways
- Cost concerns remain the key barrier to bringing more conservatives on board with the clean energy transition. Pew finds that Americans are split evenly in their beliefs about whether policies to address climate change have a positive or negative impact on the economy, with Democrats tending to see a positive effect and Republicans tending to see a negative effect. Pew also finds that Democrats and Republicans evaluate climate policies in very different ways, with Democrats primarily weighing how much policies will protect the environment for future generations and Republicans primarily considering climate policies’ effects on consumer costs. While there’s still value in emphasizing the benefits of clean energy for public health and future generations (benefits that are already widely acknowledged across audiences), this data shows that we are unlikely to achieve durable, bipartisan support for the clean energy transition until we can convince conservative audiences that the transition will also benefit the economy and consumers.
- Consumers need to hear that the financial benefits of residential solar outweigh the installation costs. Data for Progress similarly finds that costs are the make-or-break factor in the way that voters view residential solar. More than any other rationales, voters say that lower electricity bills are the biggest reason why they would consider residential solar and that installation costs are the biggest reason why they would opt against it. All other factors, including solar panels’ appearance, are far less important to consumers. Accordingly, solar advocates need to make it very clear how much consumers stand to save on their bills from residential solar and how they can minimize the cost of installation.
Good Data Points to Highlight
- [Climate Change] 74% of Americans say that human activities like burning fossil fuels are contributing at least “some” to climate change [Pew]
- [Climate Impacts] 64% of Americans say that climate change is currently having at least “some” impact on their local community [Pew]
- [Climate Accountability] 69% of Americans say that large businesses and corporations are doing too little to help reduce the effects of climate change [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 89% of Americans support planting about a trillion trees to absorb carbon emissions [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 84% of Americans support requiring oil and gas companies to seal methane gas leaks from oil wells [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 83% of Americans support providing a tax credit to Americans who improve home energy efficiency [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 79% of Americans support providing a tax credit to businesses for developing technology that captures and stores carbon emissions [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 68% of Americans support taxing corporations based on their carbon emissions [Pew]
- [Climate Action] 61% of Americans support requiring power plants to eliminate all carbon emissions by 2040 [Pew]
- [Solar] Voters support net metering policies by a 68%-18% margin after reading a brief description of them, including arguments from supporters and opponents of net metering [Data for Progress]
Full Roundup
Pew – Americans are split on whether efforts to address climate change help or hurt the economy; Democrats and Republicans continue to have different priorities for climate policy, with Democrats emphasizing environmental protection and Republicans prioritizing consumer costs [Article, Full Report, Topline]
Most Americans, regardless of partisanship, recognize that humans are contributing to climate change. Around three-quarters of Americans (74%), including 92% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans, say that human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels is contributing at least “some” to global climate change.
Democrats and Republicans tend to disagree about whether climate change is already impacting where they live. There is more partisan disagreement about the current impacts of climate change than there is about the fact that it’s happening, as Democrats (86%) are more than twice as likely as Republicans (41%) to say that global climate change is currently affecting their local community.
Geography plays only a small role if any in this partisan divide, as Democrats and Republicans within the same regions also have very different responses. In the Pacific states, for example, nearly nine in ten Democrats (89%) but only four in ten Republicans (41%) say that climate change is affecting their community.
Americans are split on whether policies to address climate change help or hurt the economy. Equal shares of about one-third each say that policies aimed at reducing the effects of climate change generally help (34%) and generally hurt (34%) the U.S. economy. An additional 30% say that climate policies have no real effect on the economy in either direction.
Part of this split is due to partisan polarization, but Democrats and Republicans aren’t particularly consolidated: just over half of Democrats say that policies to reduce climate change help economy (52% help / 13% hurt), while a slim majority of Republicans say that climate policies hurt the economy (16% help / 56% hurt).
Meanwhile, significant shares of both Democrats (33%) and Republicans (26%) don’t believe that climate policies are particularly helpful or harmful to the economy.
Democrats and Republicans have different priorities for climate policy, with Republicans primarily concerned with keeping costs down and Democrats most concerned about protecting the environment for future generations. One of the clearest divides between Democrats and Republicans on climate policy is what they say that they prioritize in climate-related proposals.
Overall, the factors that Americans are most likely to prioritize for climate legislation are protecting the environment for future generations, keeping consumer costs low, and increasing jobs and economic growth:
- Protecting the environment for future generations – 67% say that this is “very important” for them when thinking about proposals to address climate change
- Keeping consumer costs low – 59% “very important”
- Increasing jobs and economic growth – 53% “very important”
- Making sure proposals help lower-income communities – 43% “very important”
- Getting the U.S. to net-zero carbon emissions as quickly as possible – 32% “very important”
- Limiting the burden of regulations on businesses – 24% “very important”
This list looks very different for Democrats and Republicans, however.
Among Democrats, protecting the environment for future generations (83% “very important”) is by far the most important factor in climate policy. Additionally, around half of Democrats say that it’s “very important” that climate proposals help lower-income communities (55%), increase jobs and economic growth (53%), keep consumer costs low (51%), and get the U.S. to net-zero carbon emissions as quickly as possible (14%).
Among Republicans, meanwhile, keeping consumer costs low (67% “very important”) is the number one priority for climate legislation and is followed by increasing jobs and economic growth (55%) and protecting the environment for future generations (52%).
Large and bipartisan majorities support a range of climate-friendly policies, including incentives for energy efficiency and carbon capture. Despite their partisan disagreements, large majorities of Americans are united in supporting specific policies to help address climate change. These include a large-scale effort to plant new trees to absorb carbon emissions, requiring fossil fuel companies to seal methane leaks, and providing tax credits for energy efficiency and carbon capture/storage:
- Planting about a trillion trees to absorb carbon emissions – 89% support, including 86% of Republicans
- Requiring oil and gas companies to seal methane gas leaks from oil wells – 84% support, including 75% of Republicans
- Providing a tax credit to Americans who improve home energy efficiency – 83% support, including 75% of Republicans
- Providing a tax credit to businesses for developing technology which captures and stores carbon emissions – 79% support, including 69% of Republicans
It’s important to remember that the everyday person doesn’t know what’s on the menu of potential policy actions, and particular climate-friendly policies like these are often much more popular than the broad idea of “prioritizing climate action.”
Pew finds that majorities also favor taxing corporations based on their carbon emissions (68% support, including 47% of Republicans) and requiring power plants to eliminate all carbon emissions by 2040 (61% support, including 38% of Republicans), though with relatively less bipartisan support.
More than any other actors, Americans agree that large businesses and corporations should do more to address climate change. Nearly seven in ten Americans (69%) say that large businesses and corporations are doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change.
Half of more of Americans also say that their state elected officials (60%), ordinary Americans (57%), the energy industry (57%), and their local community (51%) are doing too little about the problem, though less than half of Americans (42%) say that they personally aren’t doing enough.
The right messengers are crucial to reaching conservative audiences, as Republicans tend to be suspicious of people and groups who advocate for climate action. Another notable partisan difference that Pew picks up on is the way that Democrats and Republicans respond to news and information about climate change.
While large majorities of both Democrats (88%) and Republicans (73%) say that they respond to news about climate change with frustration about how much political disagreement there is about the issue, Democrats are also much more likely to say that they feel sadness about what is happening to the Earth (91%), anxiety about the future (75%), and motivation to do more to address climate change (75%).
Meanwhile, the most common reaction to climate change news for Republicans is to feel “suspicious of the groups and people pushing for action” (75%). Given this skepticism, it’s particularly important for conservative audiences to hear about climate change from sources that they trust on the issue – such as NASA and U.S. military leaders.
Data for Progress – Nearly half of voters say that they’re interested in rooftop solar where they live; costs are both the primary incentive and biggest barrier, as Americans are eager to lower their electricity bills but are concerned about installation costs [Release, Crosstabs]
Most voters are exposed to at least some information about rooftop solar in their community, and about one-third are aware of tax credits for solar installation. Around three in five voters (62%) say that they’ve seen or heard about rooftop solar in their community, though just 15% have heard “a lot” about it.
Additionally, about one-third (34%) say that they’re aware of tax credits for solar panel installation in their state.
After learning about solar plus battery storage, voters believe that it is likely to increase the reliability of electricity where they live while decreasing utility bills. Poll respondents were provided with the following brief description of solar paired with battery storage:
“Pairing a battery storage system with solar panels allows households to store excess electricity, rather than it being wasted. This stored electricity can be used when the sun is not shining, can provide electricity during a power outage, and in some places, can be used to provide power to the rest of the grid.”
After reading this explanation, more than three in five voters believe that having solar plus battery storage where they live would both improve the reliability of electricity (63%), meaning fewer blackouts and outages, and also decrease their electricity bills (65%).
Around half of voters are interested in installing residential solar, primarily as a way to lower their electricity bills. Nearly half of voters (47%) say that they’re at least “somewhat” likely in the next five years to install solar panels on their home or ask their landlord to do so, including majorities of Latino voters (66%), voters under the age of 45 (64%), Black voters (57%), and Democrats (57%).
Electricity cost savings are clearly the biggest driver of interest, topping the list when voters are asked to choose one primary reason why they would consider installing solar panels where they live:
- To lower my electricity bill – 43%
- To have backup energy in the case of extreme weather – 19%
- To be self-sufficient / Independence from the electric grid – 17%
- To reduce my carbon footprint – 14%
- My utility or local government encourages installing solar panels – 3%
- My friends/family/neighbors have installed solar panels – 2%
Costs are also the main barrier to interest in residential solar, as voters are concerned about the upfront installation price. The cost of installation clearly rises to the top when voters are asked to choose the primary reason why they would not install solar panels where they live:
- The upfront cost is too high – 39%
- I am a renter or not the decision-maker for making permanent changes to my home – 26%
- There is not enough sun in my location – 9%
- I don’t think they will save me money – 7%
- I don’t like the appearance of solar panels on my home – 7%
- I don’t trust the supply chain for solar panels – 5%
- I think solar is bad for the environment – 1%
Voters overwhelmingly support net metering after learning about it. Data for Progress finds that voters support net metering by a roughly four-to-one margin (68% support / 18% oppose) after reading the following description of it, including statements from supporters and opponents of the policy:
“Net metering is a type of policy that allows owners of residential solar systems to sell excess electricity they generate back to the grid. In some states, owners of residential rooftop solar receive credits to their electricity bill for excess electricity generation.
Supporters say that net metering helps keep electricity use steady, reducing strain on utilities to manage busy times when people use the most power.
Opponents claim net metering forces those without solar to subsidize the cost of the grid for residential solar owners.”
Following this description, Democrats (78% support / 12% oppose), independents (63% support / 19% oppose), and Republicans (59% support / 24%) all say that they support net metering by wide margins.
Yale + GMU – Americans who experience “psychological distress” about climate change are more likely to take part in collective action [Release, Open Access Article]
Around one in six Americans experience “psychological distress” about climate change. From Yale and GMU’s release about the new paper: “We found that 16% of Americans are experiencing at least one feature of climate change psychological distress (feelings of depression or anxiety related to climate change occurring “several days” or more often in the previous two weeks). Notably, certain groups—including Hispanics/Latinos, lower-income adults, urban residents, and young adults—were more likely than average to report experiencing at least one feature of psychological distress due to climate change.”
Those who experience climate change psychological distress are more likely to participate in pro-climate collective action. Previous research has linked anger about climate change to increased willingness to participate in climate protests. In their new paper, researchers from Yale and GMU find that depression and/or anxiety about climate change is also associated with greater willingness to take part in these types of actions – even when controlling for other factors such as political ideology.
While we caution against making the discourse about climate change in advocacy circles too negative, as we don’t want to foster despair or hopelessness, there is now a good amount of academic research to indicate that negative emotions about climate change can be helpful in spurring grassroots action.
Pulling again from Yale and GMU’s release about their paper:
“We also find that Americans who experienced at least some amount of climate-related distress are much more likely than those without distress to have engaged in collective action on climate change (e.g., contacting government officials), to express intentions to engage in further collective action (e.g., signing a petition), and to be willing to join a climate campaign. Additionally, they are more likely to discuss global warming with their friends and family.
Our analyses show that the positive relationship between climate-related distress and action persists even after controlling for sociodemographic and other key predictors of climate action, such as political ideology and worry about global warming. This suggests that people experiencing climate-related distress may channel their feelings into collective climate action.”
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