Some people might be forgiven for thinking Americans are more interested in fast food and massive vehicles than in global warming. However, a recent survey out of Stanford University indicates that increasing numbers of American citizens are seriously concerned about climate change. By Jeremy Torr.

Washington DC. September 2020. According to a new survey, a large majority of Americans want to see some form of action on greenhouse gas emissions. In a survey of almost 1000 average Yanks, the research team from Resources for the Future (RFF) and ReconMR, a survey research firm, found that over 80% of Americans believe that the Earth has been warming over the past century. More, 76% of those surveyed believe the planet will continue to warm over the next century if emissions aren’t reduced.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a unique test for how people feel about climate change when faced with a different global crisis,” says Ray Kopp, RFF spokesperson. “The argument that we can’t do anything about climate change without crashing the economy … now simply doesn’t resonate with Americans.”

“The argument that we can’t do anything about climate change simply doesn’t resonate with Americans” - RFF’s Ray Kopp

The survey also reveals that 25% of Americans have become “issue public” on climate change, meaning they consider the issue of great personal importance and are likely to vote based on candidates’ climate policy platforms. It highlights that today, Americans increasingly believe climate change is real, and caused by human activity. They believe global warming could negatively impact future generations if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce warming over the next century if emissions aren’t reduced. Best of all, this swing is apolitical.

“That this percentage is so high is indicative of bipartisan support, as the fraction of Americans who are Republicans is higher than 20%,” says RFF researcher Alan Krupnick. Additionally, many of the respondents are convinced they are knowledgeable about climate change, not just bandwagon jumpers. The survey has been running for over 20 years, and during that time Americans believe they have “become more and more knowledgeable about global warming”. In 1997, 42% questioned said they knew a moderate amount about climate change. In 2020 this had risen to an impressive 75%, with the same 75% asserting they had “personally observed the effects of global warming” through local climate issues such as drought, wildfires, flooding, extreme heat, severe storms, and sea-level rise.

But many are also worried for their childrens’ future. Asked about the issue for future generations, 74% of respondents asserted that global warming would hurt their children’ children in some way and said that the U.S. government should do at least a moderate amount about global warming. Over 80% were concerned about the authorities’ role in addressing the issue. Between a half and a third of respondents thought that world governments, businesses, and ordinary citizens were only giving the issue a moderate amount of attention.

“These (surveyed) are the people who pay careful attention to news on the subject, think and talk a lot about it, and give money to lobbying groups to influence policy,” noted the report. The researchers found that for most policy issues, there is a group of people who form the “issue public” and consider the issue of utmost importance. Lead researcher Professor Jon A. Krosnick noted that the findings have also shown that climate change has surged as a hot-button topic and of extreme interest to average Americans.

“The issue (of climate change) at 25%, is now the second-largest we have reported, trailing only the group focused on abortion, at 31%,” he said in a recent interview. “By comparison, the percentage of American adults who are passionate about gun control generally hovers around 17%, and capital punishment weighs in at about 14%.”

“I would never have predicted this 25 percent,” he added, suggesting that President Trump’s efforts to undermine climate science and government initiatives to deal with global warming could be behind the surge.

Whatever the reason, it looks like US voters might be thinking increasingly of using a green pen when filling in their voter’s cards later this year.