Politics & Global Warming

The report finds that while a majority of registered US voters believe global warming is happening and support various clean energy policies, there is a significant gap between their stated willingness to advocate for climate action and their actual behavior. Political affiliation strongly influences beliefs about the cause of global warming and the priority it should hold for government leaders, though broad support exists for renewable energy research and tax rebates for energy-efficient products.

• A majority of registered voters (71%) believe global warming is occurring, with nearly all liberal Democrats (97%) agreeing, while fewer than half of conservative Republicans (42%) do.
• Most registered voters (56%) attribute global warming primarily to human activities, though this belief is much lower among liberal/moderate Republicans (45%) and conservative Republicans (30%).
• There is broad support for the U.S. reducing greenhouse gas emissions regardless of other countries' actions, held by 68% of all registered voters, including 89% of liberal Democrats and 47% of conservative Republicans.
• Registered voters show high support for specific clean energy policies: 86% support funding research into solar and wind power, 84% support tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels, and 77% support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
• A majority of registered voters (70%) support a revenue-neutral carbon tax, where fossil fuel companies pay a tax used to reduce other taxes like income tax.
• While 74% of registered voters believe corporations and industry should do more to address global warming, only 22% believe that citizens working together can significantly affect government action.
• There is a significant gap between intent and action: 31% of registered voters say they would participate in a campaign to convince officials to take action, but only 12% have actually contacted an official in the past 12 months.
• A vast majority of registered voters (78%) report that they have never been asked by anyone to contact elected officials regarding global warming.
• Barriers to contacting officials include the belief that it would not make a difference (64%), not identifying as an activist (62%), not knowing which official to contact (52%), and not knowing what to say (51%).

APA

Center for Climate Change Communication (2017). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-May-2017-min.pdf

Chicago

Center for Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2017. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-May-2017-min.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=May 2017 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-May-2017-min.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforclimatechangecommunication2017politics, author = {{Center for Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Politics \& Global Warming}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-May-2017-min.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }