With problems such as the economy and inflation, crime and the war in Ukraine most weigh on the minds of Americansthe percentage of those who believe that climate change needs to be tackled right now has fallen slightly since a year ago.
This drop in urgency, though not steep, is widespread. Fewer people with age, race and education groups, as well as guerrilla groups, believe that climate change needs to be addressed immediately than was thought a year ago. However, most Americans really think this is an issue that needs to be addressed now or at least in the next few years.
A year ago, when more Americans rated the national economy as “good” than it is now, more people considered climate change urgent. As views on the economy became more negative, the percentage of those who said they needed to address climate change immediately fell.
Kind of pocket problems the economy and inflation are top priorities for Americans. Of the seven questions asked in our survey, climate change (along with COVID-19 – also 39%) ranks at the bottom as “high priority”.
Climate change: a priority for Democrats
Climate change is a higher priority for Democrats than for Republicans and independents. Most Republicans are not worried about this issue – six out of 10 call it a “low priority”. About four out of 10 don’t think it needs to be addressed.
Americans who say climate change should be a high priority (mostly a democratic group) believe that this is what people need to do right now (more than eight out of 10 do it).
Historically, Democrats have largely advocated policies and efforts to reduce climate change, while Republicans have been less supportive or opposed to such policies.
Among Democrats, climate change is a higher priority for liberals than for moderates. Among the Liberal Democrats, climate change is slightly ahead of economic issues as a “high priority”, while tolerant puts economic issues ahead of climate change.
У February CBS News poll55% of Liberal Democrats said the Biden administration was not focused enough on climate change, compared to 39% of moderate Democrats who held that view.
But ordinary members of the party do give President Biden good marks for resolving the issue. Most Democrats, both liberal and moderate, approve of his work on climate change. Most Republicans and independents don’t.
Overall, 43% of Americans approve of Biden’s attitude toward climate change. Although he is not in a positive light, he is higher than his approval of the most pressing issues of the Americans – the economy and inflation.
US energy policy
One of the proposed ways to slow down the effects of climate change is to switch to renewable energy sources. More than half of Americans believe that U.S. policy should encourage electricity from solar and wind sources, and that figure rises to 79% among those who believe people need to tackle climate change right now.
Those who are experiencing climate change may have to wait until they are considered further in the future (a Republican-leaning group) that tends to prefer a U.S. policy that encourages electricity from oil and coal or does not encourage energy sources anyway. .
Kabir Khan contributed to this report.
This CBS News / YouGov survey was conducted with a representative sample of 2,062 U.S. adults surveyed between April 5 and 8, 2022. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race, and education based on a U.S. Census and Current poll as well as before the 2020 presidential election. The margin of error is ± 2.8 points.
