Resources

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

RESULTS

Environmental Polling Roundup – September 13th, 2024

David Gold, Environmental Polling Consortium
Research & Articles
09-13-2024

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including polling on support for the Inflation Reduction Act, plastic pollution regulation, solar energy policies, and concern about climate impacts.

Changes in U.S. voters’ top reasons to reduce global warming

Jennifer Carman, Marija Verner, Seth Rosenthal et al. Yale University and George Mason University
Research & Articles
09-12-2024

Providing a better life for future generations is consistently voters’ top rationale for addressing global warming. Preventing extreme weather has also become a more salient reason in recent years. Nearly half of voters (47%) say that providing “a better life for our children and grandchildren” is one of the most important reasons to reduce global warming, more than any other rationale tested in their polling. In Yale and GMU’s polls going back to 2017, providing a better life for future generations has consistently ranked as the top rationale for action among voters overall, among Democrats, and among Republicans. Extreme weather is rising as a rationale for climate action after several historic years of extreme heat and weather disasters. Yale and GMU find that “preventing extreme weather events” (37%) is now tied with “preventing the destruction of most life on the planet” (37%) as the next-most compelling rationale for climate action after “providing a better life for future generations.” Helping to prevent extreme weather has risen in salience over the past several years. Voters are nine points more likely to rate it among the top rationales for climate action now (37%) than they were in 2017 (28%), and it has increased as a rationale among both Democrats and Republicans over that period.

Environmental Polling Roundup – September 6th, 2024

David Gold, Environmental Polling Consortium
Research & Articles
09-06-2024

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including lots of new polling on climate and the environment as issues in this year’s election, new polling of Latino voters, new polling about conservation in the states that touch the Mississippi River, and new polling about clean energy infrastructure siting in California.

Nearly two-thirds of Latino voters prefer a president who prioritizes climate action over one who prioritizes oil and gas. Latino voters widely agree that extreme weather is becoming worse because of climate change and increasing their utility bills. 83% of Latino voters are concerned about air and water pollution, including 49% who are “very concerned” about it. 78% of Latino voters are concerned about climate change, including 46% who are “very concerned” about it. 65% of Latino voters agree that “we need a president who is committed to addressing climate change and extreme weather and who will make it a key priority of their policy agenda”. 67% of Latino voters agree that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency, and 72% attribute them to climate change.

Your guide to voting after a disaster

Lyndsey Gilpin and Jake Bittle. Grist
Research & Articles
08-20-2024

Here’s how to cast your ballot, in person or by mail, if extreme weather disrupts your life. With just weeks to go until Election Day, Hurricane Helene has destroyed critical infrastructure and displaced thousands in North Carolina and several other states. State and local officials are scrambling to restore basic services. It’s still possible to vote if you live in western North Carolina. If a disaster strikes, the governor can extend voting deadlines, allow ballots to be forwarded to a new address, allow local officials to change or add new polling places, or postpone municipal elections. The U.S. Vote Foundation has a tool to access your county election office’s contact information. In the wake of a disaster, first confirm where you should be voting. Has your polling place been damaged or moved? Was your car damaged in a disaster? Need a ride to the polls? Early in-person voting is a useful option if you’d like to avoid lines on election day or will be out of town. Absentee voting is often called “mail-in voting” or “by-mail voting.” Every state offers this, but some require you to meet certain conditions, like having a valid excuse for why you can’t make it to the polls on election day. This guide describes these voting rules and policies for every state.

Environmental Polling Roundup – August 16th, 2024

David Gold, Environmental Polling Consortium
Research & Articles
08-16-2024

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new national and swing state polling on the IRA’s tax credits and offshore drilling + new research on the terminology of climate change + new polling in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Environmental Polling Roundup - August 9th, 2024

David Gold, Environmental Polling Consortium
Research & Articles
08-09-2024

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on climate and clean energy issues in the presidential race, extreme weather, nuclear energy, and PFAS.

Environmental Polling Roundup - August 2nd, 2024

David Gold, Environmental Polling Consortium
Research & Articles
08-02-2024

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on extreme weather, environmental justice, water quality, offshore wind, and proposed measures to protect workers from extreme heat.

Research & Articles
08-01-2024

Most voters say that weather in their community this summer has been different from past years, primarily because of hotter temperatures, More than in previous years, voters experiencing unusual summer weather attribute it to climate change. 73% of voters rate climate change as a serious problem for their children and future generations of their family, including 48% who rate it as “very serious”. 69% of voters rate climate change as a serious problem for Americans today, including 40% who rate it as “very serious”. 73% of voters who report unusual summer weather in their area this year say that climate change is to blame. While Democrats and independents widely agree that this summer’s weather has been unusual, most Republicans deny it. Both at the global level (41%) and in their own community (38%), less than half of Republicans say that this summer’s weather has been unusual. Meanwhile, clear majorities of Democrats and independents agree that this summer’s weather has been different from years past – both globally (70% of Democrats and 65% of independents) and in their own community (64% of Democrats and 62% of independents).

Poll: Voters Want Companies to Protect Workers From Extreme Temperatures While on the Job

Margo Kenyon, Grace Adcox, Anika Dandekar, and Catherine Fraser. Data for Progress
Research & Articles
07-30-2024

Voters overwhelmingly support proposed new OSHA rules to protect workers from extreme heat. Voters recognize that extreme heat is a hazard for workers. More than four in ten (84%) say that they are concerned about workers facing extreme heat while at the workplace, including 42% who are “very concerned” about it. Concern intensifies when voters learn about the lack of safeguards to protect workers from extreme heat. After reading that “employers are not currently obligated to provide workers with protections against extreme heat, like breaks to cool off or drink water,” nearly nine in ten (88%) say that they are concerned about workers facing extreme heat and most (53%) are “very concerned” about it. Despite the deep partisan polarization that we commonly see in polls about government regulations, voters across party lines are closely aligned on this topic: 96% of Democrats, 86% of independents, and 86% of Republicans say that they support these proposed new OSHA rules.