Environmental Polling Roundup – September 18, 2026
Headlines
AP-NORC + EPIC – Americans are increasingly worried about the environmental impacts of AI [Data Centers Article, EVs Release, Website, Report, Topline]
Climate Power – Voters prefer strong data center regulations over moratoriums; the partisan debates over AI and data centers are up for grabs, but voters recognize that Democrats are more supportive of data center regulation [Website, Deck]
Heatmap + Embold Research – Voters rank “the environment” as a much more important priority than “climate change”; different segments of the electorate have widely divergent views about the affordability of clean energy [Issue Priority Article, Crisis Language Article, Clean Energy Believability Article, Report]
Searchlight Institute + More in Common – Americans consistently prefer pro-environmental stances in policy debates, even when they’re claimed to slow the economy [Website, Topline]
Key Takeaways
While Democratic and Republican voters continue to agree in large part about data centers, voters are recognizing that the two parties have different approaches to the issue. New research by Climate Power adds to the growing body of polls showing that voters of all political stripes oppose data centers in their communities, and AP-NORC and EPIC find bipartisan support for major data center regulations like requiring data center companies to pay for electric grid upgrades and even for requiring data centers to use clean energy sources.
Climate Power’s research also finds that, while voters have a hard time nailing down the two parties’ positions on data centers, they are relatively more likely to believe that Democrats want stronger regulations or moratoriums on data centers and are much more likely to believe that Republicans want to expand data centers without additional regulations. Voters perceive the Democratic position on data centers to be far more in line with their own preferences than the Republican position, as few voters support continued data center expansion without additional regulations but a plurality believes that this is the Republican Party’s preferred approach.
Environmental concerns about AI and data centers are intensifying. AP-NORC and EPIC find that a majority of Americans now say that they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impacts of AI, following a double-digit increase since last year. Polls have long shown that electricity prices are Americans’ top concern about data centers, and while the AP-NORC/EPIC poll finds again that Americans have the strongest concerns about data centers’ impacts on electricity prices, concerns about water usage are not far behind.
Climate Power further finds that the majority of voters now believe that a local data center would negatively impact the availability and quality of drinking water in their community, and they also find that requirements that data centers meet enforceable water use protections and air pollution limits are two of the most important conditions for voters if a data center were to be allowed in their area.
Good Data Points to Highlight
[Clean Energy] 75% of voters have favorable attitudes about clean energy companies [Climate Power]
[Clean Energy] 63% of Americans support the federal government providing incentives for building new renewable energy projects, with just 11% opposed [AP-NORC + EPIC]
[Data Centers + Clean Energy] 65% of Americans support requiring data centers to use clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, to supply their electricity needs [AP-NORC + EPIC]
[Clean Air + Water] 69% of Americans support the federal government enforcing strict clean air and water regulations, with just 10% opposed [AP-NORC + EPIC]
[Carbon Tax] 62% of Americans support the federal government taxing companies on the carbon they emit, with just 15% opposed [AP-NORC + EPIC]
[Emissions] 58% of Americans support the federal government reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with just 12% opposed [AP-NORC + EPIC]
[Climate Adaptation] 57% of Americans support the federal government providing funding for states to help communities adapt to climate change, with just 16% opposed [AP-NORC + EPIC]
Full Roundup
AP-NORC + EPIC – Americans are increasingly worried about the environmental impacts of AI [Data Centers Article, EVs Release, Website, Report, Topline]
Americans are much more supportive of the federal government incentivizing clean energy and holding polluters accountable than expanding fossil fuels, and public lands protections remain overwhelmingly popular. Below are the percentages who support and oppose a range of different federal government actions related to energy and the environment:
- Protecting conservation lands and wildlife – 81% support / 4% oppose
- Enforcing strict clean air and water regulations – 69% support / 10% oppose
- Providing incentives for building new renewable energy projects – 63% support / 11% oppose
- Taxing companies on the carbon they emit – 62% support / 15% oppose
- Reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – 58% support / 12% oppose
- Providing funding for states to help communities adapt to climate change – 57% support / 16% oppose
- Providing incentives for nuclear energy development – 46% support / 18% oppose
- Providing incentives for purchasing electric vehicles – 45% support / 24% oppose
- Expanding U.S. oil and gas production – 40% support / 28% oppose
- Expanding U.S. natural gas exports – 37% support / 21% oppose
- Rolling back environmental regulations – 23% support / 44% oppose
- Auctioning off more public land for oil drilling – 19% support / 54% oppose
Public land conservation continues to earn widespread, bipartisan support. Protecting conservation lands and wildlife is the single most popular policy that the poll asked about among both Democrats (86% support / 3% oppose) and Republicans (82% support / 4% oppose). Meanwhile, auctioning off more public land for oil drilling is the single least popular policy proposal among Democrats (9% support / 73% oppose) and also one of the least popular among Republicans (32% support / 36% oppose).
Americans are increasingly worried about the environmental impacts of AI. Most Americans (53%) say that they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impacts of the AI industry, which represents a 12-point increase since AP-NORC and EPIC last asked this question in September 2025.
Additionally, the percentage of Americans who believe that AI will do more to hurt the environment than help it (47%) has increased by 14 points since last year. Americans are now three times more likely to believe that AI will mostly hurt the environment (47%) than to believe that the technology will mostly help the environment (15%).
Proposals to require data centers to pay for electricity grid upgrades and to utilize clean energy continue to earn strong and widespread support. AP-NORC and EPIC asked about four different proposed data center regulations and found that each draws far more support than opposition:
- Requiring companies that build data centers to pay for the electric grid upgrades needed to support them – 73% support / 7% oppose
- Requiring companies to use clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, to supply their electricity needs – 65% support / 9% oppose
- Limiting the number of new data centers that can be built – 62% support / 8% oppose
- Restricting the construction of new natural gas power plants to supply electricity for data centers – 41% support / 20% oppose
Data center regulations continue to elicit rare levels of bipartisan agreement. Majorities of Democrats and Republicans support each of the following proposals:
- Requiring companies that build data centers to pay for the electric grid upgrades needed to support them (79% support among Democrats and 76% support among Republicans)
- Requiring companies to use clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, to supply their electricity needs (80% support among Democrats and 56% support among Republicans)
- Limiting the number of new data centers that can be built (70% support among Democrats and 57% support among Republicans)
The idea of limiting the construction of new gas power plants to power data centers is relatively less popular than these other proposals, but is still supported by a three-to-one margin among Democrats (50% support / 16% oppose) and narrowly favored by Republicans as well (33% support / 28% oppose).
Electricity costs remain Americans’ greatest concern about data centers, though water supply concerns are not far behind. Majorities of Americans say that they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the impacts of data centers on electricity prices (63%), the water supply (57%), and power outages (53%).
Noise continues to rank as a relatively lower concern than electricity and water use, though a substantial minority of Americans (39%) say that they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the noise impacts of data centers.
Overall EV interest is steady, with a growing partisan divide. Two in five Americans (40%) say that they are at least “somewhat” likely to purchase an electric vehicle the next time they are in the market for a car, including the majority of Democrats (55%) but only one-quarter of Republicans (25%).
AP-NORC and EPIC find that Americans’ EV interest is slightly higher than last year (rising from 37% to 40% who are at least “somewhat” interested), following a seven-point increase among Democrats (from 48% to 55%) but a three-point dip among Republicans (from 28% to 25%).
A rising percentage of Americans see cost savings on gas as a reason to purchase an EV, but upfront vehicle costs remain the greatest barrier to interest. Nearly half of Americans say that saving money on gas (46%) is a “major reason” why they would purchase an EV, which is more than any other rationale for purchasing an EV:
- To save money on gas – 46% say that this is a “major” reason why they would purchase an EV
- To reduce your personal impact on climate change – 34%
- To save money on maintenance – 29%
- Owning an electric vehicle aligns with your personal values – 22%
The percentage who call cost savings on gas a “major” reason to purchase an EV has risen by seven points since last September (39%).
On the other side of the equation, Americans say that the high costs of electric vehicles are more of a barrier to their interest than any other factor:
- The cost of a new electric vehicle is too high – 56% say that this is a “major” reason why they would not purchase an EV
- The range on electric vehicles is not far enough – 43%
- You prefer a gas engine vehicle – 39%
- It takes too long to charge – 36%
- You don’t know of any charging stations nearby – 30%
- There aren’t enough choices in electric vehicles – 22%
- Owning an electric vehicle does not align with your personal values – 20%
Heatmap + Embold Research – Voters rank “the environment” as a much more important priority than “climate change”; different segments of the electorate have widely divergent views about the affordability of clean energy [Issue Priority Article, Crisis Language Article, Clean Energy Believability Article, Report]
Voters are much more likely to prioritize “the environment” than “climate change.” Heatmap and Embold find that voters are 17 points more likely to rate the environment as an “extremely” or “very” important issue to them (70%) than climate change (53%).
The difference here is useful to keep in mind when analyzing polls that group the environment and climate change together into one issue priority, like The Economist and YouGov do each week in asking Americans to choose their single most important issue. Particularly given the partisan polarization around the term “climate change,” polls that group the environment and climate into one issue are likely discouraging Republicans from saying that they prioritize it.
Different segments of the electorate have vastly different views about the affordability of clean energy, as climate-conscious voters believe that wind and solar rank among the cheapest energy sources while climate skeptics rate them as the most expensive. In their analysis, Heatmap and Embold segmented the electorate into three distinct categories:
- “Persuaded” – Voters who believe that climate change is happening and see it as an urgent threat to be addressed
- “Persuadable” – Voters who tend to believe that climate change will cause harm in the future but don’t view the issue as an urgent priority and may or may not believe that it’s caused by humans
- “Skeptics” – Voters who do not believe that climate change is caused by humans and may question whether it’s happening at all
And when they asked voters to choose the most and least expensive energy sources from a list of five (solar, wind, natural gas, nuclear, and coal), Heatmap and Embold found that these three segments have dramatically different views. The climate “persuaded” choose solar and wind as the least expensive energy sources and believe nuclear and coal to be the most expensive. The climate “skeptics”, conversely, rate solar and wind as the most expensive energy sources and believe that coal and gas are the least expensive. The “persuadable,” meanwhile, fall in the middle and don’t have as clear attitudes about the relative affordability of different energy sources.
Climate Power – Voters prefer strong data center regulations over moratoriums; the partisan debates over AI and data centers are up for grabs, but voters recognize that Democrats are more supportive of data center regulation [Website, Deck]
The majority of voters continue to oppose data centers in their communities, and nearly half also don’t want them built in the U.S. in general. Climate Power finds that voters oppose data centers in their communities by a greater than two-to-one margin (28% support / 61% oppose). Majorities of Democrats (21% support / 68% oppose), independents (19% support / 63% oppose), and Republicans who don’t identify as “MAGA” (32% support / 56% oppose) say that they would oppose a local data center, while “MAGA” Republicans are split roughly evenly (44% support / 48% oppose).
A plurality of voters also oppose the construction of data centers in the U.S. in general (38% support / 47% oppose). Democrats (32% support / 54% oppose) and independents (25% support / 49% oppose) oppose the construction of data centers in the country by wide margins, while non-MAGA Republicans are split (43% support / 42% oppose) and most MAGA Republicans support their construction (55% support / 36% oppose).
Voters believe that data centers have particularly negative impacts on utility bills, the environment, and space in communities, and see no clear benefits beyond short-term job creation. When asked about the expected impacts of a local data center on various dimensions, voters anticipate a range of negative impacts and few positive ones:
- Your utility bills – 13% positive impact / 62% negative impact
- The environment in your community – 13% positive / 61% negative
- Open spaces in your community – 12% positive / 60% negative
- Drinking water availability and quality in your community – 11% positive / 57% negative
- Noise levels in your area – 10% positive / 56% negative
- Your cost of living – 16% positive / 53% negative
- Air quality in your community – 10% positive / 49% negative
- Climate change – 10% positive / 49% negative
- Your home/property value – 15% positive / 49% negative
- Your privacy – 12% positive / 44% negative
- The economy in your community – 38% positive / 35% negative
- National security – 25% positive / 29% negative
- The national economy – 34% positive / 29% negative
- Job creation your community in the long term (next 5-10 years) – 44% positive / 29% negative
- Job creation in your community in the short term (next 1-2 years) – 55% positive / 21% negative
Voters continue to express much greater openness to data centers if they’re powered with clean energy rather than fossil fuels. While voters oppose data centers in their communities by a 33-point margin when the energy source for them isn’t specified (28% support / 61% oppose), voters are 16 points more likely to support than oppose a data center when told that it would be powered by clean energy like wind and solar instead of fossil fuels (50% support / 34% oppose).
Net support expands to a 28-point margin (56% support / 28% oppose) in favor of a local data center in a scenario where the data center is powered by clean energy and the tech company behind the data center is required to pay for the additional electricity and grid costs so that these costs can’t be passed onto households.
When forced to choose, voters prefer stronger regulations on data centers in their community over an outright moratorium, permanent ban, or allowing data centers without additional regulations. Around two in five voters prefer stronger regulations when presented with these options of approaches that their community could take on data centers, while allowing data centers without additional regulations is by far the least popular path:
- Stronger regulations – 39%
- Moratorium – 25%
- Permanent ban – 22%
- No additional regulations – 5%
Stronger regulations are the top choice for pluralities of voters of every political affiliation, including Democrats (36%), independents (33%), non-MAGA Republicans (44%), and MAGA Republicans (44%).
The data center regulations that are non-negotiable for voters include requirements that data centers pay for all electricity costs they create, pay for necessary grid upgrades, and meet enforceable rules on water use and air pollution. When asked to rate the importance of different conditions for allowing data centers in their community, majorities of voters say that regulations around costs, grid upgrades, water use, and pollution are all “extremely” important:
- Data centers pay the additional costs they create – 67% say that this is an “extremely” important condition
- Data centers guarantee that additional costs are not passed through to households through higher utility bills – 66%
- Data centers pay for necessary electric grid upgrades – 64%
- Data centers meet enforceable water use protections – 62%
- Data centers meet enforceable air pollution limits – 60%
- Data centers are legally cancelled if they fail to meet local requirements and agreements about community benefits – 56%
- Data centers are required to be built a certain distance from communities and homes – 55%
- Data centers publicly report their economic, environmental, and energy impact on an easy-to-access website open to the public – 53%
- Data centers provide affected communities meaningful input into development decisions – 50%
- Data centers power their facilities with new clean energy – 49%
- Data centers are banned or limited from building gas turbines or diesel generators next door in the community – 47%
- Data centers pay the full utility bills for residents in communities where they build – 39%
- New size limits encourage the construction of smaller data centers instead – 33%
- Data centers pay for new solar panels and battery storage for every home in the community – 31%
Voters don’t have a clear sense of where the two parties stand on data centers, but widely recognize that Republicans have a more permissive approach. Voters are most likely to believe that Democratic elected officials want stronger regulations on data centers (27%) over other approaches, and are also more likely to believe that Democrats want a moratorium (20%) or permanent ban (16%) on data centers than to believe that Democrats want to build more data centers without additional regulations (12%).
Voters’ beliefs about the Democratic Party’s stance are therefore not far off from their own preferred approach, as voters similarly prefer stronger regulations on data centers over a moratorium or permanent ban but few voters want to allow data centers without new regulations.
As for the Republican Party, a plurality of voters (34%) believe that Republicans want to allow new data centers without additional regulations. Around one-quarter (27%) believe that Republicans want stronger regulations on data centers, while few believe that Republicans want to enact a moratorium on data centers (9%) or ban them permanently (7%).
Around one-quarter (25%) acknowledge that they don’t know what Democrats’ preferred approach is, and 23% say the same about Republicans.
Democrats continue to hold modest edges on issues related to energy costs, but many voters say that they don’t trust either party on AI and data centers. Below are the margins by which voters say that they trust one party over the other to handle different issues related to energy costs:
- Making sure corporations are held accountable to consumers – Democrats +15
- Putting middle-class families first – Democrats +12
- Holding utility companies accountable to ratepayers – Democrats +11
- The cost of utilities – Democrats +9
- Your costs generally – Democrats +7
- The cost of gasoline – Democrats +6
- Data centers – Democrats +4
- AI – Democrats +3
In addition to being the most closely-contested issues on this list, AI (32% don’t trust either party) and data centers (31% don’t trust either party) are the two issues on which voters are most likely to say that they don’t trust either party–underlining how little the parties have done to stake out clear and compelling stances on these emerging priorities.
Searchlight Institute + More in Common – Americans consistently prefer pro-environmental stances in policy debates, even when they’re claimed to slow the economy [Website, Topline]
Americans say that environmental protection should be prioritized over “economic development and business growth” if that growth harms the environment. When forced to choose between the two options, Americans are three times more likely to agree that the country should “prioritize protecting the environment, even if limits economic development and some business activity” (75%) than to agree that the country should “prioritize economic development and business growth, even if leads to negative environmental impacts” (25%).
While the public’s prioritization of environmental protection here may seem counterintuitive given how much economic concerns have dominated voters’ priorities for several years, this finding is consistent with years of tracking by Gallup on a similar question about environmental vs. economic trade-offs.
Americans support the transition to clean energy. By a wide margin, voters also agree more that the country should “invest in clean energy technologies to help move away from oil- and gas-powered energy” (69%) rather than “expand overall energy supply, including oil and gas, without regard to carbon emissions” (31%).
This finding is especially notable given how well “all-of-the-above” energy framing typically does in polls. We’d need more data to confirm if public sentiment is trending away from that “all-of-the-above” approach, though it could be that the Iran War is stoking concerns about continued reliance on fossil fuels. On that note, recent polling commissioned by LCV and Climate Power found strong agreement with the statement that “the Iran War shows that we need to diversify our energy away from oil and gas.”
Voters overwhelmingly recognize that climate change will have major negative impacts on future generations if left unaddressed. By a greater than two-to-one margin, Americans agree more with the statement that “climate change will have major negative effects on future generations and should be addressed now” (70%) over a competing statement that “concerns about climate change are overblown and it will not significantly affect future generations” (30%). Even among Republicans, who are typically the most skeptical about climate impacts, attitudes here are split roughly evenly (48% major negative effects / 52% concerns are overblown).
Voters don’t want environmental regulation to get in the way of personal choices like using gas stoves in homes. In the one question in the survey where Americans don’t side with the pro-environmental position, only 35% agree more that the government should “set limits on products like gas stoves if it’s better for health or the environment” while nearly two-thirds (65%) agree more that “what products people use in their own homes, like gas stoves, should be up to them, not the government.”
This question illustrates one of the key tensions in people’s preferences for climate and environmental policy. While the public overwhelmingly backs actions that put the onus on corporations to reduce pollution and emissions, they don’t want their own choices restricted. Polling by Pew has also found, for example, that Americans oppose the idea of phasing out gasoline-powered cars.
Related Resources
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