This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ climate attitudes, climate-related provisions in President Biden’s budget plan, and plastic pollution.

HEADLINES

AP-NORC + AAPI Data
A steady seven in ten Americans recognize that climate change is happening, including a particularly high percentage of AAPI adults; Americans rate Biden far better than Trump on climate change, but only three in ten say that Biden has made a positive impact on the issue [IRA Article, AAPI Article, AAPI Report, National Adult Topline, AAPI Topline]

Yale + GMU
Americans are more interested in hearing about solutions to climate change than causes, impacts, or evidence [Article]

Navigator
Voters strongly support provisions in President Biden’s budget to close Big Oil tax loopholes and lower energy costs [Release, Deck]

NRDC
Voters recognize plastic pollution as a major problem and an overwhelming, bipartisan majority support the U.S. joining a Global Plastics Treaty [Memo, Deck]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

President Biden has a real advantage on climate change in the presidential election, but it’s dulled by Americans’ low awareness of actions such as the IRA. A new AP-NORC poll finds that Americans have more trust in Biden and Democrats to handle climate change than Trump and Republicans, which is a very consistent finding in polling. The public is more likely to say that Biden’s presidency has helped than hurt on the issue, while Americans are much more likely to say that Trump’s presidency hurt the problem than helped it. However, only about three in ten say that Biden’s presidency has helped on climate change as the plurality believe that he has made no real impact either way. Additionally, in a series of questions about the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on various dimensions - such as the economy, inflation, and climate change - Americans are more likely to admit that they don’t know enough about the law to say than to rate its impact as positive, negative, or neutral.
Support for action on plastic pollution is strong and bipartisan. Polling released earlier this month by Greenpeace found resounding support in countries across the world for a strong Global Plastics Treaty, and a new poll released by NRDC finds that U.S. voters’ support for a Global Plastics Treaty extends across the political spectrum. Voters widely recognize that plastic pollution is a problem and bipartisan majorities support a range of measures that could be included in an international treaty, including measures to reduce plastic production and move away from single-use plastics.

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

[Oil + Gas Accountability] 77% of voters support the provision in President Biden’s budget to close tax loopholes that benefit Big Pharma, Big Oil, and wealthy corporations, including 56% who strongly support this provision [Navigator]

[Oil + Gas Accountability] 67% of Americans say that oil and gas companies are doing too little to address climate change [AP-NORC]

[Oil + Gas Accountability] 58% of Americans say that oil and gas companies have “a lot” of responsibility to address climate change [AP-NORC]
[Climate Action] The majority of Americans (56%) say that the federal government  is doing too little to address climate change [AP-NORC]
[Climate Change] 71% of Americans recognize that climate change is happening [AP-NORC]
[Climate Change] 45% of Americans say that they’ve become more concerned about climate change over the past year, while only 10% have become less concerned about it [AP-NORC]
[Plastic Pollution] 87% of voters support measures to reduce the production of plastics [NRDC]
[Plastic Pollution] 87% of voters support the U.S. joining an international treaty on plastic pollution [NRDC]
[Plastic Pollution] 86% of voters agree that the U.S. should take action to move away from single-use plastic [NRDC]