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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ experiences and perceptions about extreme weather + the first polling we’ve seen on the Supreme Court overturning the Chevron deference.

Majorities of Americans who report experiences with extreme weather, including Republicans, say that climate change contributed to it. Majorities of Americans who say that their area experienced heat waves, droughts, major wildfires, or rising sea levels in the past year say that climate change contributed “a lot” to the event. 73% of Americans say that it’s a good idea to set stricter building standards for new construction in places at high risk of extreme weather. 57% of Americans say that it’s a good idea for the government to provide financial assistance for people to rebuild in places at high risk of extreme weather. Compared to Republicans, Democrats are 23 points more likely to say that their community experienced long periods of unusually hot weather (57% to 34%), 17 points more likely to say that their community experienced severe weather like floods or intense storms (59% to 42%), 12 points more likely to say that their community experienced rising sea levels (23% to 11%), nine points more likely to say that their area experienced droughts or water shortages (31% to 22%), and seven points more likely to say that their area experienced major wildfires (21% to 14%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling on Americans’ attitudes about climate change, views on different energy sources, and beliefs about the links between fossil fuel pollution and health problems.

Steady majorities of Americans recognize that global warming is happening and caused by humans, and a rising number say that they’ve personally been affected. 70% of Americans recognize that global warming is happening. 66% of Americans recognize that global warming is affecting weather in the United States. 59% of Americans recognize that global warming is caused mostly by humans. 63% of Americans disagree with the argument that it’s “too late” to do anything about global warming. 60% of Americans agree that global warming is an “economic issue”.