Its Time! A Majority Of People In The US Say The Federal Govt Should Do More About Climate – CleanTechnica

Posted By on August 2, 2020

July 30th, 2020 by Carolyn Fortuna

The US federal government should be doing a whole lot more to reduce the impacts of climate change. Those are the findings from a just-released national survey by Pew Research Center. And its not just Democrats who are calling foul over half of Republicans as well say the US government should do more about climate. Both these constituent groups say they would support a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Among the actions positively favored by both groups are:

The study, conducted April 29 to May 5 among 10,957 US adults using the Centers online American Trends Panel, finds a majority of US adults want the government to play a larger role in addressing climate change. About 2/3 65% say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change.

If you think that the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened concern levels about the need for climate action, think again. The Center analysis finds 60% of respondents view climate change as a major threat to the well-being of the US. This is as high a share as in any Pew Research Center survey going back to 2009.

Public dissatisfaction with government environmental action reaches into other areas, too, such as protecting air and water quality and wildlife.

Image retrieved from USAID

Here are some of the percentages of US public concern over climate and the environment:

Its not just Democrats that say the government needs to step up and engage in more climate action. Here are the percentages from what the Center terms Republican leaners.

Partisanship does, however, affect the way that individuals of opposing US parties see the local impact of climate change.

Republicans and Republican leaners who describe their political views as moderate or liberal (roughly 1/3 of all Republicans and leaners) are much more likely than conservative Republicans to see local impacts of climate change, support policies to address it, and say the federal government is doing too little in areas of environmental protection.

Further, according to the Center, younger generations and women in the GOP tend to be more critical of government action on the environment than their older and male counterparts.

As a whole, moderate and liberal Republicans are more critical of government action on the environment than conservative Republicans. Narrow majorities say the government is doing too little to protect water and air quality, wildlife and their habit and to reduce the effects of climate change. Ideological gaps among Democrats are more modest than among Republicans.Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Send us an email: tips@cleantechnica.com

Tags: carbon capture technology, Pew Research Center, plant trees

Carolyn Fortuna Carolyn Fortuna, Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, and educator with a lifelong dedication to ecojustice. She's won awards from the Anti-Defamation League, The International Literacy Association, and The Leavy Foundation. As part of her portfolio divestment, she purchased 5 shares of Tesla stock.Please follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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Its Time! A Majority Of People In The US Say The Federal Govt Should Do More About Climate - CleanTechnica

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