Some 62% of registered voters prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming, while only 15% would prefer to vote for a candidate who opposes action.
This is contained in a new report “Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2024” based on a national survey conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2024, by the Centre for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
Similarly, 39% of registered voters say a candidate’s position on global warming will be “very important” when they decide who they will vote for in the 2024 presidential election.
Of 28 issues asked about, global warming is said to be the 19th most highly ranked voting issue among registered voters (based on the percentage saying it is “very important”).
Among liberal Democrats, global warming was ranked the 4th most important voting issue after maintaining free and fair elections (Number 1), abortion (Number 2), and health care (Number 3).
Among moderate/conservative Democrats, global warming was ranked Number 14, while among liberal/moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans the issue was ranked 26th and 27th, respectively.
Support for building clean energy infrastructure locally
Majorities of registered voters support climate-friendly energy production and distribution infrastructure in their local area, including solar farms (65%), wind farms (58%), high-voltage power lines to distribute clean energy (54%), and electric vehicle charging stations (51%). These include majorities of liberal Democrats and moderate/conservative Democrats, and many liberal/moderate Republicans, but fewer conservative Republicans.
Requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their climate impacts
Large majorities of registered voters across the political spectrum support policies to require publicly traded companies to disclose their climate impacts.
The full report includes many other important findings, including voters’ awareness of and support for the Inflation Reduction Act, views about clean energy vs. fossil fuels as a strategy to grow the economy and create jobs, support for various national policies to reduce emissions and promote climate justice, and willingness to take political actions to limit global warming.
