This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on climate impacts, the California wildfires, and disaster preparedness.

Even before the California wildfires, voters overwhelmingly supported government programs to help expand home insurance coverage, help pay for damages from extreme weather events, and invest in disaster preparedness and resilience. 74% of voters support the federal government funding disaster prevention and extreme weather resilience efforts at the community level. 71% of voters support the federal government creating a policy that would pay some of the costs of home insurance for low- and moderate-income households. 68% of voters support the federal government creating a national insurance fund to cover damages from extreme weather events. 67% of voters support the federal government providing home insurance coverage for extreme weather events directly to Americans.

Most voters believe that climate change contributed to California’s recent wildfires. Around three in five voters (58%) believe that climate change contributed to California’s recent wildfires. There is also a dramatic partisan split, with more than four in five Democrats (85%) and the majority of independents (54%) saying that climate change played a role in the wildfires while only 36% of Republicans believe so.

Around half of Americans say that they’ve personally been impacted by climate change, and three in five expect that they’ll be impacted in their lifetimes. 60% of Americans recognize that the world’s climate is changing as the result of human activity, while 24% say that the world’s climate is changing due to natural causes and just 6% deny that the climate is changing. A slight majority (52%) say that they’ve felt the impacts of climate change in their own lives, which is consistent with other public polling as around half the country typically reports having direct experience with climate change. A larger majority (62%) say that they expect to feel the impacts of climate change within their lifetimes. Around three in five Americans (62%) say that climate change is at least “somewhat” responsible for the extent of recent wildfires, including nine in ten Democrats (90%) and the majority of independents (56%) but less than half of Republicans (43%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling about Americans’ issue priorities for 2025 and a new international report comparing different countries’ expectations about climate impacts this year.

More Democrats name climate/environment as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other issue. In an open-ended question that allowed respondents to volunteer up to five priorities, AP-NORC finds that more Americans name immigration (47%) as a top priority for the country in 2025 than any other single issue. It’s important to note that the economy (30%) and inflation (29%) would rank as the public’s top priority if combined together, though the AP-NORC analysis separates these into distinct issues. Foreign policy (35%) also ranks among Americans’ biggest issue concerns, and climate/environment (21%) ranked fifth on the list in terms of overall mentions – slightly ahead of other common priorities including health care (17%), education/student debt (16%), and abortion/women’s rights (16%). Democrats are more likely to name the environment/climate change (36%) as a top priority for the country than any other issue. This is consistent with past research, as AP-NORC also found that climate/environment ranked as Democrats’ biggest issue priority going into 2023 and 2024.

Voters see climate/environment as one of the biggest disconnects between their own priorities and the priorities of Trump and Republicans in Congress. When asked to choose up to five issues that they believe Trump and Republicans in Congress are most focused on, just 4% of voters rank climate change and the environment among the top priorities that the Republican administration and Congress will work on. Voters perceive immigration (65%) as by far the biggest focus of Trump and Republicans, followed by inflation and the cost of living (34%), taxes (30%), jobs and the economy (29%), and government deficits and spending (29%). While just 4% of voters believe that climate change and the environment is a top focus for Trump and Republicans, 18% say that climate change and the environment is one of the issues that the government should focus most on.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new analysis of Americans’ climate concerns by Gallup, a newly published academic paper about pro-climate messaging, and new polls of Arizona voters and American farmers.

Voters consistently report holding strong favorable views of solar energy. However, despite this positive sentiment, just under half of voters report being likely to consider rooftop solar installation, highlighting a key gap between sentiments to solar and action. Younger voters and renters have greater support for solar, highlighting the potential for future solar adoption as they become homeowners or encourage their landlord to adopt solar. These findings highlight the importance of education to bridge the gap between consumer interest and action on residential solar adoption. Investments in education about the benefits of solar, including reduced energy costs – coupled with outreach to ensure voters are hearing about targeted financial incentives to bring down the upfront costs of installation – could help remove financial barriers and accelerate solar deployment and the transition to a more sustainable energy future.

Arizona voters widely agree that climate change is affecting them now, and want state policymakers to do more about it – including transitioning more to solar and wind power. By a 77%-23% margin, Arizona voters say that the state should continue rather than repeal policies that encourage the transition to clean energy like wind and solar. 77% of Arizona voters agree that using more clean energy like wind and solar would create quality jobs and strengthen Arizona’s economy. 71% of Arizona voters agree that using more clean energy like wind and solar would save Arizona families money. 70% of Arizona voters agree that climate change is already having a serious impact on their part of the country.