Politics of Global Warming

The report presents survey data from 922 registered U.S. voters, revealing broad support for various climate-friendly energy and conservation policies, though opinions on economic impacts and the urgency of federal action remain sharply divided along political lines.

• A majority of registered voters support several specific climate and energy policies: 72% support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant, 63% support a revenue-neutral carbon tax on fossil fuel companies, and 61% support requiring electric utilities to use 100% renewable energy by 2035.
• There is strong cross-partisan support for conservation and restoration jobs programs, including re-establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps (82%), hiring unemployed coal workers for mine closure and landscape restoration (81%), and hiring unemployed oil and gas workers to close abandoned wells (80%).
• Voters are divided on the economic impact of clean energy: 49% believe these policies will improve economic growth and create jobs, while 35% believe they will reduce growth and cost jobs. This divide is starkly political, with 87% of liberal Democrats seeing a positive impact compared to 73% of conservative Republicans who expect a negative impact.
• While 67% of registered voters support major government investment in national infrastructure, there is a significant gap in support for declaring global warming a national emergency: 56% of all voters support such a declaration, but this drops to 14% among conservative Republicans.
• Registered voters believe both government and individual actions are important, with 47% viewing them as equally important. There is a strong consensus that corporations and industry should do more to address global warming, supported by 72% of all registered voters.
• Regarding local government, 49% of voters believe climate mitigation and adaptation should be prioritized equally. However, confidence in the ability of state and local governments to protect communities from global warming is low, with only 27% feeling moderately or more confident.

APA

Team, M. 4. (2021). Politics of Global Warming. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-2/

Chicago

Team, Mason 4C. Politics of Global Warming. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2021. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=Mason 4C |title=Politics of Global Warming |publisher=Center for Climate Change Communication |date=3 June 2021 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-2/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2021politics, author = {Team, Mason 4C}, title = {{Politics of Global Warming}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/politics-global-warming-march-2021-2/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }