Republican Catholics More Likely to Be Concerned About Global Warming

The document finds that Catholic Republicans in the U.S. are more likely than non-Catholic Republicans to believe global warming is happening and human-caused, to express worry about it, and to support climate policies. These differences persist even among conservative Republicans, whereas similar gaps are not observed among Democrats or Independents.

• Catholic Republicans are more likely than non-Catholic Republicans to believe global warming is occurring and is driven by human activity. Specifically, 51% of Catholic Republicans believe global warming is happening compared to 42% of non-Catholic Republicans, and 36% of Catholic Republicans attribute it mostly to human activities versus 30% of non-Catholic Republicans.
• Catholic Republicans exhibit higher levels of concern and awareness regarding scientific consensus on global warming than their non-Catholic counterparts. 36% of Catholic Republicans report being somewhat or very worried, compared to 30% of non-Catholic Republicans. Additionally, 30% of Catholic Republicans know that most scientists agree global warming is happening, while only 25% of non-Catholic Republicans share this knowledge.
• Catholic Republicans show greater support for climate-related policies than non-Catholic Republicans. This includes higher support for funding renewable energy research (68% vs 63%) and providing tax rebates for solar panels or energy-efficient vehicles (71% vs 64%).
• The gap in concern between Catholics and non-Catholics is present among conservative Republicans, though it disappears among moderate or liberal Republicans. 42% of Catholic conservative Republicans believe global warming is happening compared to 35% of non-Catholic conservative Republicans, and 28% of Catholic conservatives are worried compared to 21% of non-Catholics.

APA

Grecni, Z. (2015). Republican Catholics More Likely to Be Concerned About Global Warming. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/republican-catholics-more-likely-to-be-concerned-about-global-warming/

Chicago

Grecni, Zena. Republican Catholics More Likely to Be Concerned About Global Warming. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2015. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/republican-catholics-more-likely-to-be-concerned-about-global-warming/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Grecni |first1=Zena |title=Republican Catholics More Likely to Be Concerned About Global Warming |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |date=18 June 2015 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/republican-catholics-more-likely-to-be-concerned-about-global-warming/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{grecni2015republican, author = {Grecni, Zena}, title = {{Republican Catholics More Likely to Be Concerned About Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/republican-catholics-more-likely-to-be-concerned-about-global-warming/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }