This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ climate attitudes and the Inflation Reduction Act. 

HEADLINES

Monmouth University
Americans overwhelmingly agree that climate change is a “serious problem,” and most say that the U.S. government should do more to address it [Release, Full Results]

POLITICO + Morning Consult
Voters are more familiar with the Inflation Reduction Act than with President Biden’s other legislative accomplishments, though only around half report hearing about it; more than other benefits, voters credit the IRA with creating manufacturing jobs, boosting clean energy, and lowering prescription drug costs [Article, Topline, Crosstabs]

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There is far more public appetite for increasing climate action than scaling it back. Monmouth University finds that Americans are much more likely to support (59%) than oppose (36%) the U.S. government “doing more to reduce the type of activities that cause climate change and sea level rise.” Meanwhile, POLITICO and Morning Consult find that voters are more than twice as likely to say that President Biden is “not doing enough” to address climate change (39%) than to say that he is doing “too much” on the issue (18%).
Americans’ climate concerns continue to follow a seasonal pattern. The finding that Americans are more climate-conscious in the hotter summer months is well-established in public polling. Yale and George Mason’s long-running “Climate Change in the American Mind” study, for example, found that the percentage of Americans who said that they had personally experienced global warming jumped by ten points between March 2021 (42%) and September 2021 (52%) and then reverted back to 43% by April 2022. However, news coverage of Monmouth University’s recent climate change poll mostly misses this important context. Monmouth found last month that around half of Americans called climate change a “very” serious problem (46%), which is less than Monmouth found the last time that they asked this question in September of 2021 (56%). Outlets like The Hill accordingly reported on a double-digit drop in the public’s climate concerns, ignoring the fact that they were comparing a poll conducted in September to one conducted in April.

GOOD DATA POINTS TO HIGHLIGHT

[Climate Change] 73% of Americans recognize that the world’s climate is “undergoing a change that is causing more extreme weather patterns and the rise of sea levels” [Monmouth University]
[Climate Change] 66% of Americans say that climate change is a “very” or “somewhat” serious problem [Monmouth University]
[Climate Action] By a 59%-36% margin, more Americans support than oppose the U.S. government “doing more to reduce the type of activities that cause climate change and sea level rise” [Monmouth University]
[Issue Priority] More Americans name climate change as the single “most important issue” to them than any other issue besides inflation/prices, jobs/the economy, and immigration [The Economist + YouGov]