Politics & Global Warming

The report finds that while a majority of registered U.S. voters believe global warming is happening and human-caused, significant partisan divides persist. There is broad support for clean energy research and carbon pricing, but voters are split on fossil fuel expansion. Global warming has increased in importance as a voting issue for the 2020 presidential election.

• A majority of registered voters believe global warming is occurring and is primarily caused by human activity, though these beliefs are strongly polarized by party. While 73% of all registered voters think global warming is happening, this figure drops to 41% among conservative Republicans. Similarly, 59% of all registered voters believe it is caused mostly by human activities, compared to only 25% of conservative Republicans.
• Worry regarding global warming is prevalent among two-thirds of registered voters, with a notable 20 percentage point increase over five years among moderate/conservative Democrats. Concern is highest among liberal Democrats (94%) and lowest among conservative Republicans (26%).
• There is strong bipartisan support for clean energy and carbon pollution policies. 87% of registered voters support a revenue-neutral carbon tax, and 59% support a 'Fee and Dividend' plan. High levels of support also exist for funding renewable energy research (87%), generating renewable energy on public land (86%), and providing tax rebates for energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels (82%).
• Public opinion is divided on the expansion of fossil fuel production. Support for expanding offshore drilling (47%) and drilling/mining on public land (43%) is driven primarily by Republicans. Conversely, a large majority (70%) of registered voters oppose drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• A majority of registered voters (62%) support the U.S. president declaring global warming a national emergency if Congress fails to act, representing a 17 percentage point increase since April 2019.
• There is broad support for U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement (76%), and 66% of registered voters oppose President Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement.
• Global warming has risen in importance as a voting issue for the 2020 presidential election, ranking 11th among 29 issues (up from 17th in April 2019). For 45% of registered voters, a candidate's position on global warming will be 'very important'. It is the #1 most important issue for liberal Democrats (17%).
• Registered voters generally believe that corporations and industry should do more to address global warming (74%), with support for this view spanning all political parties.
• There is strong consensus (79%) that schools should teach children about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to global warming.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2019). Politics & Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2020/01/politics-global-warming-november-2019b.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Politics & Global Warming. 2019. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2020/01/politics-global-warming-november-2019b.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Politics & Global Warming |date=November 2019 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2020/01/politics-global-warming-november-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 = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2020/01/politics-global-warming-november-2019b.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }