Climate Change in the American Christian Mind

The report finds that while majorities of Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants believe global warming is happening and human-caused, evangelicals are more split. There is broad support across all three groups for renewable energy research and infrastructure resilience, though evangelicals are more likely to prioritize religious beliefs over scientific explanations when they conflict. Pope Francis is identified as the most trusted religious leader on the issue, despite low general awareness of his forthcoming climate encyclical.

• Belief in the reality and cause of global warming varies by denomination: 69% of Catholics and 62% of non-evangelical Protestants believe it is happening, compared to 51% of evangelicals. Catholics are the most likely to attribute it to human activities (57%), while evangelicals are more evenly split between human and natural causes (41% vs 37%).
• There is a significant gap between scientific consensus and the perceptions of American Christians; fewer than half of Catholics (40%), non-evangelical Protestants (39%), and evangelicals (29%) believe most scientists agree that human-caused global warming is occurring.
• Worry and personal importance regarding global warming are highest among Catholics and lowest among evangelicals. 57% of Catholics are at least somewhat worried, whereas 62% of evangelicals are "not very" or "not at all" worried.
• Most American Christians perceive global warming as a distant threat; only 30% of Catholics, 27% of evangelicals, and 25% of non-evangelical Protestants believe people in the U.S. are being harmed today. Majorities (59% to 65%) believe harm will not occur for at least 25 years.
• American Christians show strong support for specific climate policies, including increasing funding for weather-resistant infrastructure (80-83%), tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (74-83%), and funding for renewable energy research (73-81%).
• A majority of American Christians support strict carbon dioxide emission limits on existing coal-fired power plants to improve public health and reduce global warming, even if electricity costs increase: 74% of Catholics, 70% of non-evangelical Protestants, and 60% of evangelicals.
• While most Christians value caring for future generations (82-86%) and the natural environment (76%), few view global warming as a major religious (5-9%) or spiritual (6-9%) issue, instead seeing it primarily as an environmental and scientific one.
• Evangelicals are the most likely to prioritize religious beliefs over science when the two conflict (55%), compared to Catholics (18%) and non-evangelical Protestants (18%). Conversely, evangelicals are the most likely to believe God expects people to be good stewards of nature (49%).
• Pope Francis is the most trusted religious leader as a source of global warming information, trusted by 66% of Catholics. However, awareness of his forthcoming climate encyclical is very low, with only 11% of Catholics and 5% of evangelicals and non-evangelical Protestants aware of it.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2015). Climate Change in the American Christian Mind. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/04/Global-Warming-Religion-March-2015.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Climate Change in the American Christian Mind. 2015. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/04/Global-Warming-Religion-March-2015.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Climate Change in the American Christian Mind |date=March 2015 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/04/Global-Warming-Religion-March-2015.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2015climate, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Climate Change in the American Christian Mind}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2015/04/Global-Warming-Religion-March-2015.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }