Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Politics

Americans Overwhelmingly Want U.S. to Do More on Climate Change, Heatmap Poll Finds

Heatmap’s inaugural survey finds broad support for climate action.

The aftermath of a wildfire.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Americans are increasingly feeling the effects of climate change and overwhelmingly believe the United States needs to do more to address the issue, the inaugural Heatmap Climate Poll found.

Conducted in late February by Benenson Strategy Group, the poll arrives during a moment of heightened media attention to climate change. Earlier this week, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its synthesis report, which emphasizes the dangers posed by global warming as well as the need for governments to act swiftly and decisively. In the U.S., the implementation of President Biden's landmark climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is well underway.

Overall, nearly three-quarters of all Americans say it is important for the United States to mitigate the effects of climate change, including 89% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans.

A plurality of Americans (47%) said they are feeling increasingly pessimistic about climate change, versus 28% who said they were increasingly optimistic and 24% who said it had no effect on them.

Half of Americans also attest to having been personally impacted by climate change, with 35% saying an immediate family member has experienced a serious climate-related event like a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or flash flood that resulted in either personal harm or property damage.

“In more than two decades of polling Americans’ attitudes on a wide range of issues, including climate change, I have rarely seen such unequivocal support for action now by the U.S. government, to lead on mitigating the harmful effects of climate change on our planet,” says Joel Benenson, founder and CEO of Benenson Strategy Group. “Our survey shows that Americans want their politicians to do more, but fear they lack the will that is so urgently needed as people here at home and all over the world are increasingly impacted by extreme climate events.”

Indeed, Americans seem to have given up on government’s ability to make a difference. A plurality believes that individuals will have a greater positive effect on climate change in the near future than companies or the federal government.

Americans want corporations to do more but are skeptical of their motivations. Sixty-seven percent feel it is important for large corporations to mitigate the effects of climate change, but almost as many (64%) think their pledges to do so are just for appearances. Many also identify the sway that big corporations, lobbyists, and special interest groups have in Washington to be among the most significant obstacles to achieving renewable and sustainable solutions.

Americans were also largely in the dark about the details of the Inflation Reduction Act. Sixty-three percent reported knowing not much or nothing about the bill.

Americans reported varying degrees of interest in sustainability. Eighty percent acknowledged that sustainable consumer choices often involve some level of personal sacrifice; a surprisingly significant 27% of Americans either eat no meat (10%) or would like to stop eating meat in the future (17%). Almost half of Americans say they want to one day power their homes with solar panels (46%).

Interest in electric vehicles was also high. Nearly half of the respondents either currently drive an electric vehicle (8%) or would like to do so in the future (39%). Despite high levels of general interest, though, close to one in two Americans (45%) were unaware that the Inflation Reduction Act includes a provision to give up to $7,500 in consumer credit for the purchase of qualified vehicles.

The debate over how to proceed with Russia is dividing Americans. About half (52%) believe sanctions should remain in place as an effective way of punishing Moscow and limiting its ability to wage war in Ukraine, even if it means families ultimately pay more for energy in the U.S. The remaining respondents (48%) said sanctions should be lifted to reduce energy costs for American families. Separately, a plurality of respondents described the rising cost of living for families year after year as “an extremely serious problem" for climate change mitigation.

In the coming days and weeks, Heatmap will offer further analysis of the survey's results, including closer looks at the challenges of decarbonization, interest in electric vehicles, the hopes for individual action, and the toll of climate change on mental health.

The Heatmap Climate Poll of 1,000 American adults was conducted by Benenson Strategy Group via online panels from Feb. 15 to 20, 2023. The survey included interviews with Americans in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.02 percentage points. You can download the topline results below:

Download full Heatmap Climate Poll topline.

Green

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Energy

Exclusive: Trump’s Plans to Build AI Data Centers on Federal Land

The Department of Energy has put together a list of sites and is requesting proposals from developers, Heatmap has learned.

A data center and Nevada land.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Department of Energy is moving ahead with plans to allow companies to build AI data centers and new power plants on federal land — and it has put together a list of more than a dozen sites nationwide that could receive the industrial-scale facilities, according to an internal memo obtained by Heatmap News.

The memo lists sites in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, and other locations. The government could even allow new power plants — including nuclear reactors and carbon-capture operations — to be built on the same sites to generate enough electricity to power the data centers, the memo says.

Keep reading...Show less
Economy

AM Briefing: Liberation Day

On trade turbulence, special election results, and HHS cuts

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Loom
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: A rare wildfire alert has been issued for London this week due to strong winds and unseasonably high temperatures • Schools are closed on the Greek islands of Mykonos and Paros after a storm caused intense flooding • Nearly 50 million people in the central U.S. are at risk of tornadoes, hail, and historic levels of rain today as a severe weather system barrels across the country.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Trump to roll out broad new tariffs

President Trump today will outline sweeping new tariffs on foreign imports during a “Liberation Day” speech in the White House Rose Garden scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. Details on the levies remain scarce. Trump has floated the idea that they will be “reciprocal” against countries that impose fees on U.S. goods, though the predominant rumor is that he could impose an across-the-board 20% tariff. The tariffs will be in addition to those already announced on Chinese goods, steel and aluminum, energy imports from Canada, and a 25% fee on imported vehicles, the latter of which comes into effect Thursday. “The tariffs are expected to disrupt the global trade in clean technologies, from electric cars to the materials used to build wind turbines,” explained Josh Gabbatiss at Carbon Brief. “And as clean technology becomes more expensive to manufacture in the U.S., other nations – particularly China – are likely to step up to fill in any gaps.” The trade turbulence will also disrupt the U.S. natural gas market, with domestic supply expected to tighten, and utility prices to rise. This could “accelerate the uptake of coal instead of gas, and result in a swell in U.S. power emissions that could accelerate climate change,” Reutersreported.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Podcast

The Least-Noticed Climate Scandal of the Trump Administration

Rob and Jesse catch up on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund with former White House official Kristina Costa.

Lee Zeldin.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Inflation Reduction Act dedicated $27 billion to build a new kind of climate institution in America — a network of national green banks that could lend money to companies, states, schools, churches, and housing developers to build more clean energy and deploy more next-generation energy technology around the country.

It was an innovative and untested program. And the Trump administration is desperately trying to block it. Since February, Trump’s criminal justice appointees — led by Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia — have tried to use criminal law to undo the program. After failing to get the FBI and Justice Department to block the flow of funds, Trump officials have successfully gotten the program’s bank partner to freeze relevant money. The new green banks have sued to gain access to the money.

Keep reading...Show less