A majority of Americans continue to say they see the effects of climate change in their own communities and believe that the federal government falls short in its efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. At a time when partisanshipcolors most of the public’s views on policies at many levels, the one policy that the majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents seem to agree on is stronger climate change mitigation policies at the federal level.
Despite what some people might think, over half of Republicans and a majority of Democrats are in favor of a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change, including large-scale tree planting efforts (90 percent), tax credits for businesses that capture carbon emissions (84 percent) and tougher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles (71 percent), reports Eurekalert. What is really interesting is that the COVID-19 pandemic has not dampened concerns about global warming. According to Pew Research, a recent analysis finds 60 percent view climate change as a major threat to the well-being of the United States, as high a share taking this view as in any Pew Research Center survey going back to 2009.
The new national survey was conducted by Pew Research Center April 29 to May 5. A total of 10,957 U.S. adults participated, using the Center’s online American Trends Panel. There were a number of questions about climate change where partisan differences were evident. More Democrats than Republicans say human activity is contributing a great deal to climate change (72% vs. 22%), and that climate change is impacting their own local community (83% to 37%) and that the government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change (89% to 35%).
However, there is a great deal of bipartisan support for several policy options to reduce the effects of climate change. This included the planting of a trillion trees to absorb atmospheric carbon – 90 percent, and tax credits for carbon emission reduction, at 84 percent. Bipartisan support was also evident when it came to higher emissions standards for power plants (80 percent), raising corporate taxes to pay for carbon emissions (73 percent), and stronger fuel efficiency standards for vehicles (71 percent). A majority of all respondents – 79 percent – said the U.S. should also prioritize alternative energy sources.
Consistent with past Pew Research Center surveys, younger Republicans give more priority to alternative energy development – and are less supportive of expanding fossil fuel sources – than older Republicans.
Source: DJ
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