Most Catholics in the U.S. believe environmental justice is an important issue. But only a third of them have heard of Pope Francis' encyclical on the topic, with Mass attendance key to familiarity with church teaching on the care for creation. Most of those interviewed (74%) prioritized church teaching on marriage over the environment (66%), followed by immigration (56%), abortion (53%), the death penalty (52%), birth control (48%) and euthanasia (47%).

Religion and race shape views on whether climate change is caused by human activities. Less than a third of white evangelicals saying it's driven by people, according to a new survey. Three-fourths of Hispanic Catholics and all religiously unaffiliated Americans (76%) believe climate change is caused by human activity, a survey released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute found. But less than half of Latter-day Saints believe climate change is caused by human activity (48%), and just three in 10 white evangelical Protestants (31%) believe so.

The most religious Americans are the most skeptical about climate science. White evangelical protestants, Mormons, and white non-evangelical protestants are the least likely groups to believe in human-caused climate change. White and Black Christians are the most likely to believe in the “end of times” as described in the Bible. Christians across the board agree that living up to our God-given role as stewards of the earth is extremely or very important. Mormons describe the highest degree of “deep spiritual connection” to the earth, among all groups.

In the US, adults under 40 are considerably more likely than their elders to express concern about the issue and attribute it to human activity. Overall, two-thirds of U.S. younger adults say global climate change is an extremely or very serious problem, compared with roughly half of those ages 40 and older (52%), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. There are similar age gaps among evangelical Protestants, even though both younger and older evangelicals are less likely than Americans overall to express concern about climate change. Evangelical Protestants under 40 are more likely than older evangelicals to say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem (41% vs. 31%). And 42% of evangelical adults under 40 say the Earth is warming due to human activity, compared with 28% of evangelicals ages 40 and older. However, just 5% of U.S. adults under 40 are both highly religious and concerned about climate change, compared with 9% of those ages 40 and older.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on climate change as a national priority, new polling about offshore wind energy among Americans in coastal counties, and new polling about the impacts of people’s religious views and partisanship on their climate attitudes.​​​​​​​

Responsibility for the Earth is part of many U.S. Christians’ beliefs, but so is skepticism about climate change. The new survey finds that about three-quarters of religiously affiliated Americans say the Earth is sacred. An even greater share (80%) express a sense of stewardship – completely or mostly agreeing with the idea that “God gave humans a duty to protect and care for the Earth, including the plants and animals.” Two-thirds of U.S. adults who identify with a religious group say their faith’s holy scriptures contain lessons about the environment, and about four-in-ten (42%) say they have prayed for the environment in the past year. Half or fewer people surveyed in all major Protestant traditions say the Earth is getting warmer mostly because of human activity, including 32% of evangelicals. However, on average, people who are less religious tend to be more concerned about the consequences of global warming. For example, religiously unaffiliated adults – those who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” – are much more likely to say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem (70%) than are religiously affiliated Americans as a whole (52%).

What role does religion play in climate change rhetoric? A growing body of literature has begun to link religiosity to climate change attitudes, but most of this research has focused on Christianity in the Global North. Muslims represent the second largest faith group worldwide, and a significant proportion of the Muslim population lives in countries or areas that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Given the diverse experiences and backgrounds of Muslims across the world, it is not surprising to find that there is no universal perspective on climate change among Muslims. It is also the case, however, that the social networks that exist among religious organizations provide great opportunities to continue disseminate information and mobilize advocacy efforts around climate change.

Americans Trust Health leaders for Climate Information: Health professionals are the second most trusted messengers for information on climate change (62% nationally), just after scientists (70%), with a 5-point increase since 2015. Unfortunately, only 20% of Americans report hearing about the climate from health professionals.

Survey results suggest that many Americans in the less engaged segments hold values that are consistent with a moral or religious argument for climate action. The communication of a moral perspective on global warming by religious leaders such as Pope Francis may therefore reach segments of the U.S. public that have yet to engage with the issue.

Good article summarizing Pope Francis' influence, even beyond Catholics, and assessing several years of polling and surveys on Catholic beliefs on climate change.