This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including lots of new polling and message testing on international climate action to coincide with COP28.

HEADLINES

Yale + GMU
Despite heavy polarization, the steady majority of voters want the country to prioritize climate change and most also want 100% clean energy [Release, Full Report]

Data for Progress
Voters say that the U.S. should take action on climate change, regardless of what other countries do; three-quarters say that it’s important for the U.S. to demonstrate “significant” climate action to the international community [Article, Crosstabs]

Potential Energy Coalition
In message testing across 23 countries, protecting future generations consistently ranks as the most compelling rationale for climate action [Website, including download link for full report]

Tufts CIRCLE + Climate Power + CEA
Climate change ranks among the top issues for young people in the 2024 election, and young people who prioritize climate change feel especially motivated to vote [Website, Climate Power + CEA Memo]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Voters prefer international cooperation on climate change, but want the U.S. to take strong climate action regardless of what other countries do. New polling by Data for Progress finds that around three-quarters of voters want the U.S. to work with other countries to combat climate change and reduce the emissions that cause it. At the same time, new polls both from Data for Progress and from Yale and George Mason find that majorities of voters agree that the U.S. should take action on climate change regardless of what other countries do.
Our generational responsibility on climate change resonates across major economies. In a massive, 23-country message-testing experiment, the Potential Energy Coalition finds that a message focused on protecting the planet for future generations is more effective at lifting support for climate action than messages focused on holding polluters accountable or on positive progress on climate change. This finding held true in every single one of the countries surveyed, including the U.S. and 17 other G20 nations.

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

[International Action] 77% of voters say that it’s important for the United States to be able to show other nations at COP28 that we are taking “significant” actions to address climate change [Data for Progress]
[International Action] 73% of voters agree that the U.S. should work with other countries to combat climate change and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions [Data for Progress]
[International Action] 65% of voters agree with a statement that the United States “should take ambitious action to address climate change, even if other countries do not” and that “we should lead the world on this issue and set the example for other countries to follow suit” [Data for Progress]
[International Action] 60% of voters agree that the United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, “regardless of what other countries do” [Yale + GMU]
[International Action] 60% of voters support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries that agree to limit their greenhouse gas emissions [Yale + GMU]
[International Action] 57% of voters support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries to help them prepare for the impacts of global warming [Yale + GMU]
[Clean Energy] 64% of voters support transitioning the U.S. economy from fossil fuels to 100% clean energy by 2050 [Yale + GMU]
[Clean Energy] 63% of voters support requiring electric utilities to produce 100% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035 [Yale + GMU]
[Polluter Accountability] 70% of voters say that fossil fuel companies have too much influence on government decisions [Yale + GMU]
[Polluter Accountability] 66% of voters support requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a tax on the carbon they produce and using the money to reduce other taxes by an equal amount [Yale + GMU]
[Issue Priority] More Americans name climate change and the environment as the single “most important issue” to them than any other issue aside from inflation/prices, the economy/jobs, and health care [The Economist + YouGov]