US Public Still Backs Climate Action Despite Trump
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- Yale climate polling shows about two-thirds of Americans remain worried about the climate crisis, a proportion that has held steady even as the Iran war and inflation have crowded climate out of news cycles.
- Only 7% of US voters would support a candidate who advocates decreasing renewables, while just 14% want a candidate pushing more fossil fuels, according to Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale's climate communication program.
- Trump's administration handed out $700 million this month to prop up coal-fired power plants, while courts have repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to block wind and solar projects; Trump has called clean energy "the scam of the century."
- US households are paying between $400 and $900 more each year because of climate impacts, with costs ballooning to more than $1,300 in some counties in California, Louisiana, and Florida, per research co-authored by UCLA economist Kimberly Clausing.
- A majority of US voters now link rising costs in their lives to the climate crisis, despite shrinking coverage — the Washington Post, NPR, and CBS have all cut climate journalist positions, fueling what Leiserowitz calls a "spiral of climate silence."
- Biden's landmark climate legislation has been unwound by Congressional Republicans, and Clausing says the assumption that climate policies cost elections is likely to keep Democrats from championing the issue even as polling shows the public still supports action.
Why it matters: Two-thirds of Americans remain worried about climate change and only 7% want fewer renewables, yet Trump just allocated $700 million to coal while courts blocked his wind and solar restrictions. The political risk: media cuts to climate coverage mean the gap between Trump's fossil agenda and public preferences may stay invisible heading into the midterms.
