According to a new report issued by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, Americans are starting to realize the importance of climate change and renewable energy sources while also holding fossil fuel companies responsible for the “hidden costs” of their products.
On the topic of issue priority, 72% of Americans believe that global warming should definitely be a priority for the president and Congress. While that number is pretty significant, a staggering 92% of Americans believe developing cleans sources of energy should be a very high (31%), high (38%) or medium (23%) for the president and Congress. Interestingly, 84% of those responding positively to clean energy development were Republicans. Also worth noting: Only 17% of those surveyed believe protecting the environment reduces economic growth and costs jobs.
Nice to see that fact might be winning out over media fiction.
It’s also refreshing to see percentages so much in favor of climate and energy policies. 79% support funding more research into renewable energy sources, 76% support giving tax breaks to people buying fuel-efficient vehicles or solar panels and 63% say the US should act on its own to cut greenhouse gases regardless of what other countries do.
On these points, Democrats and Independents are mostly in line while Republicans support these points but at a far lower percentage. The biggest difference between the parties comes with the idea of offshore drilling. 89% of Republicans support offshore drilling versus 53% of Democrats.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this report is Americans approve of a “revenue neutral” tax shift. 61% of Americans said they would vote for a candidate who would support the tax shift that would increase taxes on coal, oil and natural gas while lowering the federal income tax by an equal amount.
You can read the full report here.
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