Polling the American Public on Climate Change

The document aggregates data from multiple polling organizations, indicating a general rise in American concern regarding climate change and a growing belief in its human causes. While there is broad support for renewable energy and power plant emission regulations, public support for carbon taxes and cap-and-trade measures remains low. The data highlights significant demographic variations, with higher levels of concern and support for government action among Democrats, minorities, and younger adults compared to Republicans.

• Public concern about climate change in the United States is increasing across political affiliations, with a growing number of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans viewing it as a serious issue that will impact them during their lifetimes.
• There is significant public support for transitioning to clean energy and regulating emissions, though specific market-based mechanisms like carbon taxes are less popular. For example, 62% of Americans favor stricter emission limits on power plants and 54% support investing in renewable energy, while only 29% support a carbon tax.
• Demographic data shows that minorities and younger populations express higher levels of concern and support for presidential action on climate change. Specifically, 77% of Latinos believe climate change is already happening, compared to 52% of the general American population.
• A growing segment of the population attributes global warming to human activity, and many associate it with recent extreme weather. Following Hurricane Sandy, 45% of respondents stated that extreme weather events had a very large impact on their belief that the Earth is warming.

APA

Suozzo‐Gole, M. (2013). Polling the American Public on Climate Change. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_polling_040213.pdf

Chicago

Suozzo‐Gole, Marguerite. Polling the American Public on Climate Change. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2013. https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_polling_040213.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Suozzo‐Gole |first1=Marguerite |title=Polling the American Public on Climate Change |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=April 2013 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_polling_040213.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{suozzogole2013polling, author = {Suozzo‐Gole, Marguerite}, title = {{Polling the American Public on Climate Change}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2013}, month = apr, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/FactSheet_polling_040213.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }