Politics & Global Warming

The report finds that while 70% of registered U.S. voters believe global warming is happening, there is a significant partisan divide in beliefs about its causes and the urgency of action. Despite this, there is broad cross-party support for renewable energy investment, pollution regulation, and carbon taxes. The Green New Deal is supported by a majority (69%) of voters, though opinions on its economic impact and funding are split. Global warming is a high priority for Democrats but ranks low for Republicans as a 2020 voting issue.

• A majority of registered voters (70%) believe global warming is occurring, though this is split by party: 95% of liberal Democrats and 63% of liberal/moderate Republicans agree, while only 38% of conservative Republicans do.
• Fifty-five percent of registered voters believe human activities are the primary cause of global warming, with strong agreement among liberal Democrats (86%) and low agreement among conservative Republicans (21%).
• Broad support exists across the political spectrum for three primary government strategies to reduce pollution: investing in renewable energy research and infrastructure (87%), regulating pollution (82%), and taxing pollution (72%).
• Specific carbon-pricing and emission policies have majority support, including a revenue-neutral carbon tax (67%), a 'Fee and Dividend' plan (59%), and strict carbon dioxide emission limits on coal-fired power plants (69%).
• The Green New Deal is supported by 69% of registered voters, including 93% of Democrats and 44% of Republicans. Most supporters prefer paying for it through cutting other government spending (65%), raising corporate taxes (64%), or raising taxes on wealthy households (62%), while only 24% support increasing the federal budget deficit.
• Voters are divided on the economic impact of the Green New Deal: 35% believe it will increase total U.S. jobs compared to 21% who believe it will decrease them, and 36% believe it will help the economy compared to 26% who believe it will hurt it.
• Global warming is a significant voting issue for Democrats (64% say it is very important for the 2020 election) but ranks as the 17th most important issue overall among all registered voters.
• There is strong consensus (77%) that schools should teach children about the causes, consequences, and solutions to global warming, with support from 94% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans.
• While 72% of registered voters believe corporations and industry should do more to address global warming, actual individual action is low; only 11% of registered voters contacted an elected official in the previous 12 months to urge action on the issue.
• Voters are split on fossil fuel production: 53% support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, but only 33% support drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2019). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2019/05/Politics-Global-Warming-April-2019b.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2019. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2019/05/Politics-Global-Warming-April-2019b.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=April 2019 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2019/05/Politics-Global-Warming-April-2019b.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2019politics, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Politics \& Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2019/05/Politics-Global-Warming-April-2019b.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }