Politics & Global Warming

A March 2021 survey of 922 registered U.S. voters reveals broad support for clean energy research, tax rebates for energy-efficient products, and conservation jobs programs. While majorities support transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2050 and regulating carbon dioxide, significant political divisions persist regarding the economic impact of clean energy and the use of national emergency declarations. Voters generally believe corporations and government should do more to address global warming, though confidence in the ability of state and local governments to protect communities remains low.

• A majority of registered voters view global warming and clean energy as high priorities for the U.S. government, with 52% prioritizing global warming and 60% prioritizing the development of clean energy sources.
• There is strong majority support for several clean energy and pollution-reduction policies, including tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (78%), renewable energy research funding (76%), and regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (72%).
• Registered voters support a transition to 100% clean energy for the U.S. economy by 2050 (67%) and for electric utilities by 2035 (61%).
• Broad support exists for conservation and restoration programs, such as re-establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps (82%) and creating jobs programs for unemployed coal (81%) or oil and gas workers (80%) to restore landscapes and close abandoned wells.
• Support for a U.S. president declaring global warming a national emergency if Congress fails to act is held by 56% of registered voters, though this is highly polarized by party.
• Voters are divided on the economic impact of clean energy: 49% believe such policies will improve economic growth and jobs, while 35% believe they will reduce growth and cost jobs.
• A majority of registered voters (58%) believe that increasing clean energy production in the U.S. will create more new jobs than increasing fossil fuel production.
• There is a strong consensus that corporations and industry should do more to address global warming (72%), and majorities believe the U.S. Congress (63%) and the Republican Party (61%) should also do more.
• Collective efficacy is higher at the local level than the federal level; 53% of voters are moderately or more confident that people like them can affect local government action, compared to 47% for the federal government.
• Regarding local government priorities, 49% of voters believe mitigation and adaptation should be prioritized equally. However, only 27% are moderately or more confident that state and local governments can actually protect their communities from global warming impacts.
• Voters prioritize the protection of public water supplies (57%) and people's health (53%) from global warming effects over the next decade at the state and local level.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2021). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/06/politics-global-warming-march-2021b.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2021. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/06/politics-global-warming-march-2021b.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=March 2021 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/06/politics-global-warming-march-2021b.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2021politics, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Politics \& Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/06/politics-global-warming-march-2021b.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }