Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming

The report details a gap between Americans' willingness to engage in climate-related political and community actions and their actual behavior. While many adopt energy-efficient household products and habits, few participate in active campaigns or disaster preparedness planning.

• A significant portion of Americans have purchased energy-efficient home products, with 52% buying an energy-efficient kitchen appliance, 39% a water heater, 38% an air conditioner, and 37% a car averaging 30 miles per gallon or more.
• Energy-efficient lighting is widely adopted, with 89% of Americans using CFLs or LEDs in their homes; 71% report that 'all' or 'most' of their bulbs are energy efficient, a 31 percentage point increase since November 2008.
• Many Americans adopt dietary and waste habits to mitigate climate change, including 63% who make efforts to eat less red meat and 26% who compost food waste.
• Americans use their purchasing power for climate activism, with 31% rewarding companies that reduce global warming and 22% punishing those that oppose such steps by avoiding their products.
• There is a stark contrast between willingness and actual engagement in political climate action: while 52% would sign a petition and 33% would donate money, only 15% have signed a petition and 13% have donated in the past year.
• Actual political engagement with government officials is very low; only 8% of Americans contacted government officials to urge action on global warming in the last 12 months.
• Despite 29% of Americans being willing to join a campaign to convince elected officials to reduce global warming, only 1% are currently participating in such a campaign.
• Regarding disaster preparedness, 55% of Americans have thought about preparing for a natural disaster, but only 40% have an emergency supply kit and 28% have a family disaster emergency plan.
• Americans show a higher willingness to join community response groups than political advocacy for preparedness; 44% would join a group like the Red Cross, compared to 29% who would join a campaign to convince officials to prepare for global warming impacts.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2021). Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/08/americans-actions-to-limit-and-prepare-for-global-warming-march-2021b_v2.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming. 2021. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/08/americans-actions-to-limit-and-prepare-for-global-warming-march-2021b_v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming |date=March 2021 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/08/americans-actions-to-limit-and-prepare-for-global-warming-march-2021b_v2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2021americans, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Americans’ Actions to Limit and Prepare for Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/08/americans-actions-to-limit-and-prepare-for-global-warming-march-2021b_v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }