Resources

Search below for resources covering the intersection of climate engagement, social science and data analytics.

RESULTS

Research & Articles
08-01-2023

Voters widely support corporate climate accountability along the lines of the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act. The legislation has the backing of nearly two-thirds of voters (65% support/25% oppose) after it’s described as “a new bill to impose a $500 billion fee on major fossil fuel companies as partial compensation for the damages caused by these companies’ emissions that have contributed to climate change.” Support is sharply driven by partisanship, with Democrats (83% support/9% oppose) and independents (65% support/25% oppose) both much more supportive than Republicans (43% support/42% oppose). However, Republican voters don’t reject the idea outright. In fact, there’s a high degree of asymmetric polarization with Democrats caring far more about passing the legislation (50% strongly support) than Republicans care about stopping it (24% strongly oppose).

More than two-thirds of California voters expect extreme weather swings to become more common due to climate change, and Californians are deeply concerned about the water situation in the West. 81% of California voters say that it’s important for the state to continue enforcing water conservation policies for residential, commercial, and agricultural water users - including 52% who say it’s “very” important. 69% of California voters expect extreme swings in the state’s weather to become more common because of climate change. 60% of California voters support reducing water deliveries from the Colorado River.

Research & Articles
05-18-2023

Americans think they disagree about their national history more than they actually do. Republicans think Democrats want to teach a history exclusively defined by shameful oppression and guilt, while Democrats believe Republicans want to overlook grave injustices like slavery and racism—yet both impressions are incorrect. For example, the proportion of Republicans who agree that “Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks should be taught as examples of Americans who fought for equality” is more than two times more than Democrats think (93% versus 35%). In another example, about twice as many Democrats believe “students should not be made to feel guilty or personally responsible for the errors of prior generations” than Republicans think (83% versus 43%). How can we close that perception gap? First, correcting misperceptions can reduce perception gaps. Second, we can all personally do our best to reduce our own perception gaps. Third, enter into dialogue with someone with a different political viewpoint. Fourth, help build an alternative social network ecosystem of people with a variety of viewpoints.

Research & Articles
05-10-2023

Nine in ten Floridians recognize that climate change is happening, and most support making solar the state’s primary source of energy. 90% of Floridians recognize that climate change is happening, including 65% who say that climate change is caused largely by human activity. 74% of Floridians say that climate change has them concerned about the well-being of future generations in Florida. 71% of Floridians agree that the state government should do more to address the impacts of climate change. 58% of Floridians choose solar when asked to choose the primary form of energy production they want Florida to support in the future, compared to just 10% who want to continue using gas as the state’s primary energy source.

California voters, including those in swing congressional districts (CDs), understand that climate change impacts the weather and the state economy. 61% of California voters say that climate change is either a “crisis” or serious problem, including 53% in swing CDs. 60% of California voters say that climate change plays a major role in extreme weather events, including 53% in swing CDs.

Research & Articles
05-10-2023

Large majorities of Black and Hispanic Americans worry about the pollution of their drinking water. 56% of all American adults worry “a great deal” about pollution in drinking water, but 76% of Black adults and 70% of Hispanic adults worry “a great deal,” compared to 48% of white adults who do.

The divide between Democrats and Republicans on which news sources are trustworthy remains stark. Americans are 53 points more likely to call The Weather Channel trustworthy as they are to call it untrustworthy. It's also the only outlet that YouGov asked about that more Democrats (+64) and Republicans (+47) trust than the shares who distrust it. The Weather Channel is just one of two outlets polled about that a majority of Republicans trust; the other one is Fox News (56% of Republicans trust it, with a net trust score among them of +41). When it comes to the national rankings, The Weather Channel is followed by national public broadcaster PBS (+30), the U.K. news outlet BBC (+29), and The Wall Street Journal (+24) in national trust. This year's poll has the same group in the top four as last year's poll — even with the additions to this year's poll.

Poll: Majority approve of Lombardo’s early job performance

Jacob Solis. Nevada Independent and Noble Predictive Insights
Research & Articles
05-03-2023

Nevada voters are deeply concerned about water issues, and few believe that the state is doing enough to address climate change. 46% of Nevada voters say that the state isn’t doing enough to address climate change, compared to just 11% who say that the state is doing too much and 25% who say that the state is doing the right amount. Just over half of Nevadans say they approve of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s job performance four months into his term. Of those respondents, however, only 16 percent said they “strongly approve” of Lombardo’s performance, while another 35 percent said they “somewhat approve.” Another 21 percent of respondents said they have “no opinion.” Lombardo’s approval also differed widely among genders — it was as high as 61 percent among men, compared with just 42 percent among women — as well as by region. Lombardo’s highest marks came from the state’s rural counties (70 percent approval).

Why Human Stories Always Win

John Marshall and Jessica Lu. Potential Energy
Research & Articles
05-02-2023

Messages that consistently outperform other content center people and their stories. Again and again, whether the topic was jobs, extreme weather, or the scientific facts of overheating, one finding seemed to stand head and shoulders above the rest: Advertisements with human faces win. A natural, casual conversation between two moms—one a climate scientist, and one an everyday American who had some questions about how (and why) wildfires were getting worse—increased strong support for immediate climate action by 12.0%, compared to a provocative ad that highlighted the constant “state of emergency” we often find ourselves in due to extreme weather, which increased strong support by 3.4%. Another recent campaign specific to California showcased the individual humans most affected by the headlines many have become immune to: A headline about a drought is easy to ignore, but the face of a farmer is hard to forget—this campaign led to a 14.2% increase in strong support for climate action. Overall, find the humans, humanize the headlines, connect on shared values, and lift up unexpected messengers.

Poll: Advancing Equitable Deployment of Regional DAC Hubs

Celina Scott-Buechler, Julia Jeanty, Catherine Fraser, Grace Adcox, and Charlotte Scott. Data for Progress
Research & Articles
05-01-2023

The public widely supports building direct air capture (DAC) hubs after learning about them. The most appealing features of potential DAC projects include guarantees of re-investment in the community, stable jobs, and funding through taxing polluting industries. 68% of voters support the U.S. building direct air capture (DAC) facilities after learning what they are, including majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans.