Politics & Global Warming

The report finds that while a majority of US registered voters believe global warming is happening and human-caused, there is significant political polarization, particularly among conservative Republicans. Despite this, there is broad cross-party support for various clean energy policies, such as renewable energy research and tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles. However, a gap exists between the willingness of voters to advocate for climate policy and their actual engagement in such activities.

• A majority of registered voters (72%) believe global warming is occurring, though this belief is lowest among conservative Republicans (37%) and has declined within the Republican party since the 2016 election.
• 54% of registered voters believe global warming is primarily caused by human activities, with a significant disparity between liberal Democrats (83%) and conservative Republicans (21%).
• There is broad support across political lines for several clean energy policies, including funding renewable energy research (87%), generating renewable energy on public land (86%), and providing tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (83%).
• A majority of registered voters support regulatory and fiscal measures to reduce emissions, including regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (77%) and implementing a revenue-neutral carbon tax (69%).
• While 76% of registered voters support U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement, 63% oppose the decision by the United States to withdraw from it.
• Most registered voters (62%) believe that protecting the environment improves economic growth and creates jobs, and 75% prioritize environmental protection over economic growth when the two conflict.
• A significant gap exists between stated intent and action: 38% of registered voters say they would participate in a campaign to convince officials to take action on global warming, but only 12% report having actually contacted an official in the past 12 months.
• Voters believe corporations and industry should do more to address global warming (74%), and a majority (56%) believe it should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress.
• Support for fossil fuel production varies by policy: 51% support expanding offshore drilling, 44% support drilling and mining on public land, but only 29% support drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2017). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-October-2017.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2017. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-October-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=October 2017 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-October-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2017politics, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Politics \& Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2017/12/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-October-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }