The majority of United States voters want more action on climate change—and many millions would be willing to organize to get it, but have never been asked, the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication concludes in its latest report on politics and global warming.
“The study finds that millions of Americans are willing to work together to demand climate action by the government and companies,” the Center states in a release. “But this potential mass climate movement remains largely unorganized, with many people sitting on the sidelines waiting to be engaged.”
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Large majorities of liberal, moderate, and conservative Democrats, and nearly half of more liberal and moderate Republicans, want more decisive action from corporations and industry, citizens themselves, the U.S. Congress, the White House, and their own members of Congress.
“The study also found that nearly a third (31%) of registered voters are willing to participate in a campaign to convince elected officials to take action to reduce global warming, representing tens of millions of people,” the Center notes. “Yet nearly eight of 10 registered voters say no one has ever asked them to contact elected officials, and two out of three say they have never been contacted by an organization working to reduce global warming.”
Most registered voters said they would support policies to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution, including clean energy research funding, consumer rebates for buying energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels, regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and requiring fossils to pay a carbon tax.
Meanwhile, a global poll by the Pew Research Center identifies the so-called Islamic State and climate change as the two leading national security concerns for a wide cross-section of public respondents. “While the level and focus of concern varies by region and country, ISIS and climate change clearly emerge as the most frequently-cited security risks across the 38 countries polled.” Pew notes.
ISIS and climate were identified as significant threats by 62 and 61% of respondents, respectively, with cybersecurity and the global economy both coming in at 51%.
