Politics & Global Warming

The report finds broad support among U.S. registered voters for participating in the Paris COP21 agreement, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and transitioning to renewable energy. While political divisions exist, majorities across party lines support taxing or regulating pollution, funding renewable energy research, and investing in national infrastructure, particularly roads, bridges, and water systems.

• A significant majority of registered voters support U.S. participation in the international agreement to limit climate change (Paris COP21), with 69% in favor and 13% opposed.
• Two-thirds (66%) of registered voters believe the U.S. should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions regardless of the actions of other countries.
• There is strong support for corporate and industrial accountability, with 72% of all registered voters stating that corporations and industry should do more to address global warming.
• Voters show broad support for pollution control mechanisms; 78% support taxing, regulating, or using both approaches to address global warming pollution, and 66% specifically support a revenue-neutral carbon tax.
• There is high support for strict carbon dioxide emission limits on existing coal-fired power plants (70%), even if it results in increased electricity costs for consumers and companies.
• Registered voters prioritize the use of fossil fuel tax revenues for clean energy development (81%) and infrastructure improvements (79%), followed by assistance for coal industry workers (73%) and paying down the national debt (67%).
• A large majority of voters (83%) support generating renewable energy on U.S. public land, while support for drilling or mining fossil fuels on public land is lower at 47%.
• Voters support various clean energy policies, including funding renewable energy research (82%), providing tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (80%), and regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (76%).
• The Federal government is viewed as needing to prioritize global warming preparations for public water supplies (76%), agriculture (75%), public health (74%), and the electricity system (71%).
• A majority of registered voters (81%) believe the U.S. should use more renewable energy in the future, and 55% believe it should use less fossil fuel.
• Over half of registered voters (51%) believe that transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy will improve economic growth and create new jobs.
• There is strong cross-party support for major government investment in national infrastructure (69%), with the highest priorities being roads, bridges, highways (94%) and public water supply systems (92%).

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2016). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-November-2016.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2016. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-November-2016.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=November 2016 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-November-2016.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2016politics, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Politics \& Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2016/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-November-2016.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }