Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2025

The report finds that while a majority of registered U.S. voters support clean energy transitions and the Paris Climate Agreement, global warming remains a low priority for most when deciding on congressional candidates. There is strong bipartisan support for protecting workers from extreme heat and opposing the elimination of federal climate research and FEMA, though significant political polarization persists regarding fossil fuel use and the priority level of climate action.

• Global warming is a low priority for registered voters in the 2026 congressional elections; only 1% identify it as their most important voting issue, ranking it 17th out of 25 issues. However, 35% say it will be a "very important" issue in their decision, with a stark partisan divide: 61% of Democrats versus 8% of Republicans.
• There is broad, cross-partisan support for specific climate and energy policies: 87% support federal funding for soil carbon sequestration, 77% support renewable energy research, and 74% support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Additionally, 66% of registered voters support transitioning the U.S. economy to 100% clean energy by 2050.
• A large majority of registered voters oppose the removal of federal climate-related resources and agencies, with 79% opposing the elimination of FEMA and 77% opposing orders for federal agencies to stop providing global warming information to the public or conducting research on the topic.
• The Foreign Pollution Fee Act, a proposal by Republican senators to tax imports based on carbon emissions, has very low name recognition (2%) but high support (78%) among registered voters after they read a description of the bill.
• Voters show strong support for international climate cooperation and worker safety: 77% support U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement, and 92% support requiring companies to protect workers from dangerous levels of heat.
• While 33% of registered voters are willing to join a campaign to urge elected officials to take climate action, actual recent participation is low; only 10% have contacted government officials in the past year to urge action on global warming.
• Public opinion on the economic impact of clean energy is split: 49% of registered voters believe clean energy policies will improve economic growth and jobs, while 27% believe they will reduce growth and cost jobs.

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Kotcher, J., Rosenthal, S., Goddard, E., Carman, J., Verner, M., Myers, T., Ettinger, J., Fine, J., Richards, E., Goldberg, M., Marlon, J., & Maibach, E. (2025). Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2025. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-and-policy-fall-2025/

Chicago

Leiserowitz, A., J. Kotcher, S. Rosenthal, E. Goddard, J. Carman, M. Verner, T. Myers, et al. Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2025. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2025. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-and-policy-fall-2025/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitz2025climate, author = {Leiserowitz, A. and Kotcher, J. and Rosenthal, S. and Goddard, E. and Carman, J. and Verner, M. and Myers, T. and Ettinger, J. and Fine, J. and Richards, E. and Goldberg, M. and Marlon, J. and Maibach, E.}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics \& Policy, Fall 2025}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-and-policy-fall-2025/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }