Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy

A survey of 861 registered U.S. voters in Spring 2023 reveals broad support for clean energy research, tax rebates for energy efficiency, and local climate-friendly infrastructure. While 71% support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 after reading a description, only 11% believe the U.S. government is responding well to global warming. There is a significant gap between the willingness of voters to take political action and their actual engagement over the past year.

• A majority of registered voters believe that both global warming (54%) and the development of clean energy sources (66%) should be high or very high priorities for the president and Congress.
• Registered voters show strong support for various carbon-reduction policies, including renewable energy research (79%), tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (76%), and regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (74%).
• There is significant support for a 'just transition' and equity-focused climate policies, with 75% of registered voters supporting national training programs for both low-income communities/communities of color and fossil fuel industry workers for new jobs in renewable energy.
• While 57% of registered voters support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast, they also support local climate-friendly infrastructure, specifically solar farms (64%), wind farms (57%), and electric vehicle charging stations (56%).
• Despite 71% of registered voters supporting the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) after reading a description, only 39% had heard 'a lot' or 'some' about the law prior to the description.
• There is widespread dissatisfaction with the U.S. government's response to global warming, with only 11% of registered voters agreeing that the government is responding well.
• A gap exists between intended and actual political action: 56% of registered voters say they would sign a petition about global warming if asked by someone they respect, but only 17% actually did so in the past year.
• Support for non-violent civil disobedience is low, with only 15% of registered voters saying they would personally engage in such actions and only 5% willing to be arrested.
• Registered voters express high support for local government climate actions, including increasing public transportation (86%), funding home energy-efficiency improvements (85%), and constructing bike paths and lanes (79%).

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2023). Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/06/climate-change-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2023.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy. 2023. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/06/climate-change-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy |date=March 2023 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/06/climate-change-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2023climate, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics \& Policy}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2023/06/climate-change-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }