A majority of Americans now attribute the worsening climate crisis to pressure on the cost of living, with a clear majority also disagreeing with the Trump administration's moves to destroy climate research and shut down wind farms, new polls show.
About 65% of registered voters in the United States believe that global warming affects the cost of living. according to a Yale University survey.
Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms and heat waves, exacerbated by the climate crisis, harm food productionwith the recent jump in value coffee And chocolate experts blame it, at least in part, on global warming.
Meanwhile, many Americans are facing rising home energy costs and cool increase in home insurance premiumsBoth areas have also been impacted by the climate crisis and the Trump administration's decision to shut down solar and wind power, often the cheapest energy sources.
There was also widespread backlash in many communities against new data centerswhich are championed by the administration and the tech industry for advancing artificial intelligence, but criticized by critics for causing planet-warming emissions and driving up energy bills.
Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said that while many politicians and activists are losing focus on the climate crisis, many Americans are aware of the connection between rising temperatures and rising bills.
“I find it stunning that even some people in the climate community are saying we should stop talking about climate because the cost of living crisis is going on,” he said.
“It is a fundamental mistake to view these issues as mutually exclusive – solutions to climate change are also solutions to reduce the cost of living. Much elite discourse is very poor at assessing or understanding levels of public concern, and this is a good example of that.”
In an era where concerns about immigration, crime and inflation seem to dominate, Leiserowitz said the climate crisis can still motivate voters if it's handled well.
“If your child has asthma, you should care about climate change. If you want to make money, you should care about climate change. If you like chocolate, you should care about climate change,” he said. “If we're stuck talking about it only from a scientific or political perspective, that's an incredibly narrow set of stories to tell, even though it's the biggest story on the planet.”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has begun dismantling key environmental rulesdismissal of the federal scientists, deletion public awareness of the climate crisis and explicit support for the fossil fuel industry in favor of cleaner forms of energy. The President said renewable energy was a “scam” and a “scam” and tried ban some solar and wind power plants.
This agenda is deeply unpopular among a clear majority of Americans, Yale polls show: Nearly eight in 10 registered voters oppose restrictions on climate information and research, while a similar share of voters reject Trump's demand that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) be shut down. eliminated. Another 65% of voters disagree with Trump's decision block new offshore wind farms.
“Things like this keep happening—the EPA's website has been scrubbed of climate information, and the administration wants to destroy one of the world's preeminent climate research organizations for ideological reasons,” Leiserowitz said.
“Most people think this doesn't make sense. The last election was clearly not a referendum on climate change – there was very little discussion about it – and yet the administration is treating it as if it were. There was no mandate for any of this. That's why all the polls show Trump deep under water on all these issues.”
A White House spokesman did not answer questions about the unpopularity of the administration's environmental policies, instead saying Trump has “restored common sense to American energy and sustainability policies.”
“Once again, America is leading the way in an era of energy abundance, and countries are lining up to partner with the United States in deals to import energy from the United States,” she said.
“President Trump has set a strong example for the rest of the world by reversing course on Joe Biden's green energy scam, and is freeing up our natural resources to strengthen the stability of our energy grid and lower energy costs for American families and businesses.”
The US, unlike most other industrialized countries, remains highly polarized in its views on the climate crisis. While the Yale poll found that 59% of voters would prefer to support a candidate who supports action on climate change, that number is skewed by the overwhelming majority of Democrats who want it.
By contrast, only 21% of conservative Republicans want to support a climate hawk candidate, while 37% want the exact opposite.
“Looking at the long-term trajectory, there is a huge increase in the share of Americans who believe climate change should be a priority for the president and Congress,” Leiserowitz said. “But among Republicans, that number has stayed pretty much the same all along. It hasn't changed much.”
