About half of Americans view climate and energy policy as very important
Healthcare and the economy rank the top issues Americans consider very important of the policies asked about on the poll. But energy policy and climate policy are nearly aligned with immigration in terms of importance to Americans. About half consider the three issues to be very important. There are large partisan divides on these three issues. Republicans are about twice as likely to consider immigration important (65 percent) as they are to consider climate change policy important (28 percent), while Democrats consider energy policy (60 percent) and climate change policy (69 percent) to be more important than immigration (48 percent).
Few Americans—including Republicans—support environmental rollbacks, while most support protecting our air, water and land
On Day One, President Trump withdrew the United States from the international Paris Climate Agreement and has since taken steps to roll back many environmental regulations. The poll found less than a quarter of Americans support withdrawal and rollbacks, with less than a third of Republicans saying the same. When asked if the government should take a more or less active role in global climate efforts and how important it is for the federal government to enforce stricter air and water regulations, Americans were more divided. Most Democrats wanted the government to take a more active role and viewed air and water regulations as very important. Less than half of Republicans wanted a more active role, and about half viewed the regulations as very important. There was the most agreement on the federal government conserving land and wildlife, with most Democrats and Republicans viewing this as very important.
Most Americans support policies that would reduce emissions, with a large partisan divide
Democrats overwhelmingly support climate policies, such as regulations to limit emissions from power plants and vehicles, incentives to purchase EVs, and funding to help states adapt—all policies recently rolled back by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans. The majority of Republicans do not support these policies, with a 30- to 37-point divide between the two parties on these issues. There is no significant partisan divide on support for nuclear development—though that does not make it popular. Most Americans do not support incentives for nuclear energy, with just a 5-point divide between Democrats and Republicans. At the same time, more than half of Americans said it was extremely or very important for the federal government to expand the U.S. clean energy industry— including 73 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans.
Most Americans don’t support the expansion of fossil fuel development
The Trump administration has taken actions to expand fossil fuel development, including increasing drilling on federal lands and waters and expanding natural gas exports. The poll found that Democrats sharply oppose these efforts. While most Republicans support expanding oil and gas production and half say the same about expanding natural gas exports, significantly fewer support auctioning off more public land for oil drilling. Only 13 percent of young Republicans (18-29) support this, versus 42 percent of Republicans 60 and over. This is part of a wider trend of young Americans being less supportive of these actions, with 11 percent supporting auctioning more public lands for oil drilling (vs 23 percent of 60+).
There is a large divide between younger and older Republicans on climate and energy policies
Younger Republicans (18-29) disagree with their older counterparts (60+) on a wide variety of energy and climate policies. Generally, more younger Republicans think it is important to expand clean energy and support incentives for electric vehicles and funding to help communities adapt to climate change. The divide between younger and older Republicans on these issues ranges from a 16-point to a 21-point difference. This follows in line with the trend that an increasing share of younger Republicans believes in human-driven climate change. Conversely, older Republicans support the expansion of traditional fossil fuel energy. While 39 percent of young Republicans support expanding U.S. oil and gas production, 80 percent of older Republicans said the same—a 40-point difference. There was less divide over support for nuclear development.
Americans are not very willing to pay for climate action
While many Americans support climate policies, including a carbon tax on companies, they are much less supportive when it comes to paying for these policies in the form of a monthly fee on their energy use. In fact, less than half of Americans support paying any amount of money to combat climate change. Thirty-eight percent are willing to pay $1—falling from 52 percent in 2021. That said, a consistent minority is willing to pay a significant amount (even $100) to combat climate change.