Environmental Polling Roundup – September 29, 2023
HEADLINES
AP + NORC – Nearly nine in ten Americans say that they’ve experienced an extreme weather event, and extreme weather continues to shape Americans’ climate attitudes [Release, Topline]
The Economist + YouGov – Americans are much more likely to say that the U.S. is doing too little on climate change than to say that the country is doing too much [Topline, Crosstabs]
[U.S. House Districts] LCV – Constituents in key U.S. House districts support climate-smart agriculture funding and reject arguments to repeal it in the Farm Bill [Release, including five district-specific decks]
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- This summer’s heat waves have woken more Americans up to the realities of climate change. The AP and NORC find that the percentage of Americans who say that they’ve been impacted by extreme weather has increased since this spring, with a particularly sharp increase in the percentage who say that they’ve experienced extreme heat. Their polling additionally finds that Americans are more likely to acknowledge that climate change is happening, more likely to say that their concerns about climate change are growing, and more likely to say that extreme weather events are influencing their climate views than they were in April. This is part of a larger trend we commonly see in Americans’ climate attitudes, with concerns about climate change tending to peak in the warmer summer months.
- The public is inclined to protect climate-smart agriculture funding. LCV finds that constituents in key U.S. House districts have instinctively positive reactions to the concept of climate-smart agriculture and widely support funding for climate-smart agricultural practices after learning that this funding was included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Support for climate-smart agriculture funding also withstands a simulated debate, with constituents siding more with arguments in favor of preserving this funding than repealing it. While we shouldn’t expect everyday Americans to have deep familiarity with the concept of climate-smart agriculture, these findings indicate that advocates fighting to protect climate-smart agriculture funding in the Farm Bill will find a receptive audience in the general public.
GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT
- [Climate Change] 74% of Americans recognize that climate change is happening [AP + NORC]
- [Climate Change] 52% of Americans say they’ve become more concerned about climate change over the past year, while only 9% have become less concerned [AP + NORC]
- [Climate-Smart Agriculture] 55%+ of constituents in key U.S. House districts support the climate-smart agriculture funding in the Inflation Reduction Act [LCV]
- [Issue Priority] More Americans name climate change and the environment as the single “most important issue” to them than any other issue aside from inflation/prices and health care [The Economist + YouGov]
FULL ROUNDUP
AP + NORC – Nearly nine in ten Americans say that they’ve experienced an extreme weather event, and extreme weather continues to shape Americans’ climate attitudes [Release, Topline]
The latest poll from the AP and UChicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC) provides further evidence that Americans’ climate concerns follow a seasonal pattern, with spikes in concern during the warmer summer months when the impacts of climate change tend to be most readily apparent.
The poll, which was fielded earlier this month, finds that 74% of Americans recognize that climate change is happening. That percentage is a few points higher than what AP/NORC found in April of this year (71%), but identical to what they found last September (74%).
Additionally, just over half of Americans (52%) say that they have grown more concerned about climate change over the past year – an increase of four points from April (48%).
This uptick in climate concern goes hand-in-hand with an increase in the number of Americans who say that they’ve personally experienced extreme weather.
AP/NORC find that 87% of Americans now say that they’ve experienced at least one extreme weather event in the last five years, which is an eight-point increase since April (79%).
Among those who say that they’ve experienced an extreme weather event in the past five years, Americans are also five points more likely now (74%) than in April (69%) to say that climate change was a factor.
With this summer’s heat waves fresh in people’s memories, there has been a particularly stark rise in the percentage of Americans who say that they’ve been impacted by extreme heat. Nearly three-quarters (74%) now say that they’ve experienced extreme heat in the last five years, up from 55% in April.
Consistent with other polling, AP/NORC find that extreme heat is by far the most common type of extreme weather reported by Americans. Here are the percentages who say that they’ve experienced various types of severe weather events in the past five years:
- Extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves – 74%
- Severe cold weather or severe winter storms – 42%
- Major droughts or water shortages – 32%
- Hurricanes or tropical storms – 31%
- Wildfires – 26%
- Major flooding – 21%
- Tornadoes – 17%
Also consistent with past polling, AP/NORC find that extreme weather events and scientists have the greatest impact in shaping Americans’ climate attitudes. Here are the percentages who say that each of the following events or sources have had at least a “moderate” amount of influence in informing their views about climate change:
- Recent extreme weather events, like hurricanes, droughts, floods, unusual heat, or wildfires – 52%
- Scientists – 43%
- Your education – 39%
- News coverage of climate issues – 24%
- Advocacy groups or activists – 18%
- Family and friends – 15%
- Political leaders – 10%
- Faith organizations – 8%
Additionally, while the reported influence of most of these factors is static, the percentage who say that their climate views have been influenced by recent extreme weather events has increased by six points from April (46%) – underlining the power of extreme weather, and extreme heat in particular, in driving home the reality of climate change.
The Economist + YouGov – Americans are much more likely to say that the U.S. is doing too little on climate change than to say that the country is doing too much [Topline, Crosstabs]
This new polling by The Economist and YouGov reinforces that the clear majority of Americans want climate action from their government. Nearly half (46%) say that the U.S. government is not doing enough to address climate change, while an additional 15% say that the government is doing “the right amount.” Only about one-quarter (26%) say that the government is doing “too much” on the issue.
It’s also notable that, even under a Democratic administration that has passed landmark climate legislation, barely half of self-identified Republicans (53%) say that the government is doing too much to address climate change. Congressional Republicans’ push to gut the Inflation Reduction Act would suggest a much stronger appetite from Republican voters to scale back climate action. However, as we commonly see in polling on climate change, Republican-leaning Americans are far less interested in climate obstructionism than Republican politicians in Washington are.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of self-identified Democrats (68%) say that the U.S. government is doing too little to address climate change and self-identified independents are nearly twice as likely to say that the government is doing too little to address climate change (47%) as to say that the government is doing too much (25%).
At the personal level, the plurality of Americans (43%) feel that they themselves are doing “the right amount” to address climate change. Around one-third (33%) acknowledge that they are doing too little to address climate change personally, while only 6% feel that they are doing “too much.”
The perceived costs of climate action are a clear problem to overcome, as most Americans say that they would not pay higher energy prices for the sake of addressing climate change (35% yes / 53% no). The task for advocates here, as always, is to convince the public that we can combat climate change without driving up their energy prices.
The poll also finds that Americans tend to have higher opinions of their own climate consciousness than their fellow Americans’. Only one-quarter (25%) say that “other Americans” are doing the right amount to address climate change, while 44% say that other Americans are not doing enough.
[U.S. House Districts] LCV – Constituents in key U.S. House districts support climate-smart agriculture funding and reject arguments to repeal it in the Farm Bill [Release, including five district-specific decks]
LCV conducted polls in five U.S. House districts whose representatives could have an important role in the next Farm Bill reauthorization:
- KS-03 (Rep. Sharice Davids)
- MN-02 (Rep. Angie Craig)
- NC-01 (Rep. Don Davis)
- PA-01 (Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick)
- WA-03 (Rep. Marie Glusenkamp Perez)
In each of these districts, LCV finds that voters have an instinctively positive reaction to the idea of climate-smart agriculture. Across the five districts, 56%+ say that they have favorable attitudes toward “climate-smart agriculture practices” while 24% or fewer have unfavorable attitudes.
It also comes across as common sense to voters that the United States can support its farmers and protect the environment at the same time. More than four-fifths of voters in each district (83%+) agree with the following statement: “We don’t have to choose between supporting American farmers and protecting our environment. We can do both.”
And when it comes to the Farm Bill specifically, overwhelming majorities agree that Congress should include programs that help farmers deal with extreme weather, conserve water, and protect drinking water from pollution:
- 82%+ agree that the Farm Bill should “include programs that help farmers deal with extreme weather like droughts and floods”
- 79%+ agree that the Farm Bill should “include programs that help conserve water and protect our drinking water from pollution”
LCV finds that constituents continue to support climate-smart agriculture after learning that funding for it was included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The polls provided respondents with the following explanation:
As you may know, last year, Democrats in Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $19.5 billion in new funding to expand existing programs that help farmers and ranchers use practices that reduce their pollution and make their
farms more resilient to extreme weather.
Following this description, 55%+ of voters across the districts say that they support the IRA’s funding for climate-smart agriculture while 34% or fewer oppose this funding.
Support for climate-smart agriculture funding also stands up to scrutiny. After reading back-and-forth arguments for preserving this funding and for using the Farm Bill to repeal or redirect the funding, 61%+ of constituents across the five districts side with the argument that the funding should be used as initially intended to reduce pollution.
Related Resources
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