Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2023

A survey of 861 registered U.S. voters in Spring 2023 reveals broad support for local climate-friendly infrastructure and energy efficiency programs, though significant political polarization exists regarding national mandates and offshore drilling. While a majority believe corporations and government should do more to address global warming, actual individual political participation remains low, and only 11% of voters believe the U.S. government is responding well to the issue.

• There is strong support among registered voters for local climate-friendly policies and infrastructure, including public transportation (86%), energy-efficient home improvements (85%), bike paths and lanes (79%), solar farms (64%), and wind farms (57%).
• Registered voters show high support for energy transition and justice-oriented policies, such as training programs for low-income communities and fossil fuel workers (75% each), and transitioning the U.S. economy to 100% clean energy by 2050 (69%).
• A majority of registered voters (57%) support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast, with the highest support among conservative Republicans (81%) and the lowest among liberal Democrats (28%).
• There is a widespread perception that key entities must do more to address global warming, particularly corporations and industry (70%), the U.S. Congress (63%), and the Republican Party (62%), yet only 11% of voters believe the U.S. government is currently responding well.
• Despite stated willingness to act, actual political engagement is low: only 17% signed a petition, 12% donated money, and 5% volunteered for a global warming organization in the past year.
• A small minority of registered voters are willing to engage in extreme forms of protest; 15% would personally engage in non-violent civil disobedience, but only 5% would be willing to get arrested.

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Rosenthal, S., Kotcher, J., Goddard, E., Ballew, M., Marlon, J., Verner, M., Lee, S., Carman, J., Myers, T., Goldberg, M., & Badullovich, N. (2023). Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2023. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-policy-spring-2023/

Chicago

Leiserowitz, A., E. Maibach, S. Rosenthal, J. Kotcher, E. Goddard, M. Ballew, J. Marlon, et al. Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2023. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2023. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-policy-spring-2023/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitz2023climate, author = {Leiserowitz, A. and Maibach, E. and Rosenthal, S. and Kotcher, J. and Goddard, E. and Ballew, M. and Marlon, J. and Verner, M. and Lee, S. and Carman, J. and Myers, T. and Goldberg, M. and Badullovich, N.}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics \& Policy, Spring 2023}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-policy-spring-2023/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }