climate change in the american mind

A survey of 2,164 American adults in 2008 reveals that while the economy is the top national priority, a majority of Americans view global warming as a serious threat and support a wide range of climate and energy policies, including renewable energy research and carbon regulation. Despite this support, political and consumer activism remains low, largely due to a lack of information on how to act. Most Americans trust scientists and family as information sources but express uncertainty about whether humanity will successfully reduce global warming.

• While the economy was the top priority for the new president and Congress (76%), global warming remained a high or very high national priority for 54% of Americans, and 72% stated it was important to them personally.
• There is strong public support for the United States to take unilateral action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with 67% believing the U.S. should act regardless of other countries' actions.
• Americans show high support for specific climate policies, including renewable energy research (92%), tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (85%), and the regulation of carbon dioxide as a pollutant (80%).
• Public support for a national cap and trade system is relatively weak, with only 53% supporting the creation of such a market and only 11% strongly supporting it.
• The primary reason for public resistance to climate action is the concern that it will lead to increased government regulation (54%), rather than economic or job losses.
• Consumer activism is limited by a lack of knowledge; 68% of Americans stated they do not know which companies to punish for opposing climate action, despite 48% expressing a willingness to reward or punish companies.
• A majority of Americans (69%) believe global warming is happening and 62% believe it is caused by human activities, though only 47% believe there is a scientific consensus on the matter.
• Americans perceive global warming as an imminent threat to the world and the U.S., but often view it as a distant problem personally; 51% believe it is already having or will have dangerous impacts globally within 10 years.
• There is a significant gap in public understanding regarding the health impacts of global warming, with approximately half of respondents unable to estimate current or future annual deaths caused by the phenomenon.
• Most Americans believe that solving global warming will require significant lifestyle changes (70%) and that individual actions can make a difference (69%), though only 6% are confident that humanity will successfully reduce it.
• Scientists (82%) and family and friends (77%) are the most trusted sources of information about global warming, while corporations are the least trusted (19%).

APA

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., & Roser-Renouf, C. (n.d.). climate change in the american mind. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CC_in_Amer_Mind_09.pdf

Chicago

Leiserowitz, Anthony, Edward Maibach, and Connie Roser-Renouf. climate change in the american mind. Center for Climate Change Communication, n.d. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CC_in_Amer_Mind_09.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{leiserowitzndclimate, author = {Leiserowitz, Anthony and Maibach, Edward and Roser-Renouf, Connie}, title = {{climate change in the american mind}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CC_in_Amer_Mind_09.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }